We carried out a review of the data available to us about Amber Home Carers on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Amber Home Carers, you can give feedback on this service.
Amber Home Carers is a domiciliary care agency providing care and support to 75 people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection 60 people using the service were receiving personal care. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
A safe service was provided for people to use and staff to work in. People’s needs were met, and they were supported by enough appropriately recruited staff. This meant people were able to enjoy their lives and live in a safe way. Risks to people using the service and staff were assessed, monitored and updated when required. The provider reported, investigated and recorded accidents, incidents and safeguarding concerns appropriately. Medicines were safely administered. The agency met shielding and social distancing rules, used Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) safely and effectively and had an up to date infection prevention and control policy.
The provider had a culture that was honest, open, and positive with transparent leadership and management. There was a statement of purpose that clearly defined the provider’s vision and values. Staff understood and followed them and were aware of their responsibilities and accountability. They were prepared to take responsibility and report any concerns they may have. The provider regularly reviewed service quality and changes were made accordingly to improve the care and support people received. This was in a manner which best suited people. The provider established effective working partnerships that promoted the needs of people being met outside its remit to reduce social isolation. Registration requirements were met.
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published 1 February 2018) and there were no breaches of regulations.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
CQC has introduced focused/targeted inspections to follow up on previous breaches and to check specific concerns. We undertook a focused inspection approach to review the key questions of Safe, and Well-led.
As no concerns were identified in relation to the key questions is the service Effective, Caring and Responsive, we decided not to inspect them. Ratings from the previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
The overall rating for the service remains good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Amber Home Carers on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Amber Home Carers is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It was providing a service to 121 people at the time of this inspection.
At the previous inspection in November 2015 we found the service was meeting the required standards. At this inspection the service continued to meet the standards.
A registered manager was in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
People and their relatives told us that staff were kind, respectful and caring. They said that the service provided was consistent, of high quality and personalised to people’s individual needs. The service asked people about the care they wanted and involved them in making day to day decisions about the support being provided, helping them remain independent where appropriate.
People and their relatives told us that they had regular staff visiting who were punctual and communicated well with them. There were systems to safeguard people from abuse. Staff completed safeguarding training and knew how to report any concerns.
People were supported by staff who were trained and well supported in their job roles. Staff members had been safely recruited and had received an induction to the service.
Staff had access to personal protective equipment (PPE) for the prevention and control of infection.
Staff had received training in the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and understood the importance of gaining people’s consent before assisting them.
The service completed assessments of people’s needs and these were used to inform the care plan for each person. The service kept people’s needs under review and made changes as required.
People and their relatives felt able to raise any concerns or complaints. There was a procedure in place for people to follow if they wanted to raise any issues. We discussed with the registered manager how people had expressed dissatisfaction with poor communication between the agency and themselves. The registered manager was able to identify the cause of this and was now in a position to improve the quality of communication between the agency and people.
The service promoted a culture that was person centred, open and inclusive. People using the service and their relatives said that Amber Home Carers was well managed and responsive to their needs.