Archived: Embrace Quality Care Limited Also known as Katharine House Hospice

Embrace Quality Care is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to 16 people in their own homes at the time of the inspection. The service is a private limited company, wholly owned by Katharine House Hospice, Stafford, which is a registered charity.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People were supported by safely recruited staff, who had the skills and knowledge to provide effective support. There were enough staff available to provide consistent care and to meet people’s needs. Medicines were managed safely, and people were protected from the risk of infection.

Effective care planning and risk management was in place which guided staff to provide support that met people’s needs and in line with their preferences. People were supported with their nutritional needs and advice was sought from healthcare professionals which was followed to ensure people’s wellbeing was maintained.

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.

People were supported by caring and compassionate staff who promoted choices in a way that people understood. This meant people had control and choice over their lives. Staff provided dignified care and respected people’s privacy.

People and relatives were involved in the planning and review of their care. Staff used care plans to ensure they provided support in line with people’s wishes. This ensured people received personalised care in line with their preferences and diverse needs.

Systems were in place to monitor the service, which ensured people’s risks were mitigated and lessons were learnt when things went wrong. There was an open culture within the service, where complaints were acted on and improvements made. People and staff could approach the management team who acted on concerns raised to make improvements to the way care was delivered.

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 Good (report published 22 December 2016)

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating. The service continued to be rated Good in all domains.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Embrace Quality Care 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.

Embrace Quality Care is registered to provide personal care to people within their own homes in the Stafford area. The service is a private limited company, wholly owned by Katharine House Hospice, Stafford, which is a registered charity.

There was a registered manager in place. 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. The registered manager of the service was also registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as the registered manager at Katharine House Hospice. The everyday running of Embrace Quality Care was delegated to the service manager, who was present through our inspection visit.

This service was last inspected in January 2014, when we did not identify any concerns with the care and support provided to people who used the service.

Staff were able to describe what action they would take if they had any concerns and demonstrated a good understanding of the different types of abuse.

Risks to people's safety were assessed and minimised.

There were enough staff to support people safely in people's homes.

The provider had appropriate arrangements in place to manage medicines safely. People were supported to take their medicines as prescribed.

People were supported by a staff team who had skills and knowledge to support people effectively.

Staff always sought consent before providing care and support to people.

Staff supported people to access health services as required.

The provider supported people to access a variety of health professionals to ensure they received effective treatment to meet their specific needs.

People were supported by staff who were kind and caring.

Staff treated people with respect and promoted their independence.

The provider actively involved people and their relative in decisions about their care.

People received support that was tailored to the individual needs and preferences.

The provider routinely and actively listened to people to address any concerns or complaints.

There was an open and inclusive culture.

The provider had clear vision and values that were person-centred and that ensured people, including staff, were at the heart of the service

The provider undertook a comprehensive range of checks to monitor the quality of service delivery.

People received safe and appropriate care because their individual needs were thoroughly assessed before care was agreed and delivered. Each care and support plan was regularly reviewed and updated when changes were identified. This ensured the provider could fully meet the needs of people and provide a quality service.

One person who used the service told us: 'The staff are pleasant, kind and helpful'. Another person said: 'I don't know what I would do without the carers, they are all really good and I have no concerns whatsoever'.

Staff told us that they had sufficient time to spend with the people to meet their individual care needs. They told us that the training they received was appropriate for them to provide care and support in an effective and knowledgeable way.

An effective system was in place to gain the views of people that used the service. When issues were raised these were acted upon. The quality of people's service was well checked and monitored.