Background to this inspection
Updated
9 February 2021
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection visit was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
APDA Homecare c/o Daycare and Development Centre is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of inspection the service provided personal care to seven people. CQC only inspect the service received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also take into account any wider social care provided.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
We told the provider two days before our visit that we would be coming. We gave the provider notice of our inspection as we needed to make sure that someone was at the office in order for us to carry out the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 17 December 2020 and ended on 5 January 2021. We visited the office location on 17 December 2020.
What we did before the inspection
Before the inspection we looked at information we held about the service. This information included any statutory notifications that the provider had sent to the CQC. Statutory notifications include information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law.
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
We reviewed the last inspection report and information we had received about improvements made.
During the inspection
We spoke with the registered manager and nominated individual, who was the director of the service.
We reviewed a variety of records which related to people's individual care and the running of the service. These records included care records for five people using the service, five staff employment records and quality monitoring and management records.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data,
policies and procedures and quality assurance records. We also spoke with one person who received care from the service and three relatives. We also spoke with three care workers.
Updated
9 February 2021
About the service:
APDA Homecare c/o Daycare and Development Centre is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people in their own homes. The service provides care to children and older people with physical and learning disabilities. The service caters for the Asian community and at the time of inspection the service provided personal care to seven people.
People’s experience of using this service:
Risk assessments for people covered areas such as the environment, physical health and personal care. These contained guidance for minimising potential risks such as risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we noted that some risk assessments were not available on the day of the inspection.
Systems were in place to help ensure people were protected from the risk of abuse. There were appropriate policies in place with the relevant contact details. Care workers had completed safeguarding training.
The service followed safe recruitment practices and records contained the required documentation. The staffing levels were adequate to ensure that people’s needs were met.
The registered manager confirmed the service did not administer medicines to people. We therefore did not look at how the service managed medicines during this inspection.
Feedback indicated that staff were punctual and there were no issues in relation to this. There was evidence that people received care from the same staff and there was consistency in the level of care they received.
Infection prevention and control measures were in place to keep people safe and prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other infections. Staff had received appropriate training. They had access to sufficient stocks of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Our previous inspection identified that there were a number of instances where care workers required refresher training and we found a breach of regulation in respect of this. During this inspection we found that the service had made improvements in respect of this and staff had completed relevant training.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
The service supported people to meet their individual dietary needs. People followed religious diets and care workers were fully aware of people’s individual dietary requirements. Care support plans included information about people's dietary needs and requirements, likes and dislikes.
We noted that there were instances where documentation was not available and well-maintained. We have made a recommendation in respect of this.
There were systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service. We found the service had obtained feedback about the quality of the service through satisfaction surveys. The service also undertook checks and audits of the quality of the service.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection:
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 25 June 2019) and there was one breach of regulation in respect of staff training. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of this regulation.
Why we inspected:
We undertook this focused inspection in order to check what improvements had been made since our last inspection. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Effective and Well-led. The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has improved to Good.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for APDA Homecare c/o Daycare and Development Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.