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Archived: Autonomy Care Ltd

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Suite 2 The Cardinal Building, Sandys Road, Enigma Business Park, Malvern, WR14 1JJ 07738 496108

Provided and run by:
Autonomy Care Limited

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 29 June 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type:

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. It provides a service to children, young and older adults with dementia, sensory impairments, a learning or physical disability. At the time of our inspection care and support was provided to children, young people and an older person. There were nine people using the service.

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 gave the service 48 hours' notice to ensure we would be able to access the office.

Inspection site visit activity started on 5 June 2019 and ended on 7 June 2019. We visited the office location on 5 June 2019 to see the registered manager and staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did:

Before we inspected the service, we reviewed information we held about the service, to help inform us about the level of risk for this service. Providers are required to send us key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information is called a Provider Information Return and helps support our inspections. We also contacted the local authority commissioners and Healthwatch to request their views of the service. Healthwatch is the independent national champion for people who use health and social care services.

During the inspection, we met and spoke with the registered manager, care coordinator, a director and two staff members. We sampled three people’s care records and medicine administration records. We also looked at a selection of documentation in relation to the management and running of the service. This included quality assurance audits, complaints, accident and incident records, recruitment information for one staff member, staff training records and policies and procedures.

At the time of our inspection people who were currently using the service would have found it difficult to answer specific questions about their care and experiences of the support provided. In view of this we spoke with four people’s relatives following our visit to the providers office to obtain their views and experiences of their family members care and support.

We also spoke with a further staff member by telephone following our visit to the provider’s office.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 29 June 2019

About the service: Autonomy Care Ltd is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care to people in their own homes. Not everyone using the service receives a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being 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. At the time of our inspection, nine people were using the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

People benefitted from receiving care and support from staff who approached their work with kindness and compassion, and treated people with dignity and respect.

People were supported by staff who had the knowledge to protect them from potential abuse as they knew how to recognise different forms of abuse and how to report this. Risks associated with people’s individual care needs were assessed and plans put in place to manage these. Staff had received training in infection protection and control to reduce risks of cross infections.

Prospective staff underwent pre-employment checks to ensure they were suitable to provide care and support to people who used the service. People were supported by a small team of staff who knew them well and had undertaken an induction to help them understand and feel comfortable in their caring roles.

The provider had arrangements in place to provide staff with ongoing training specific to meeting the diverse needs of people who used the service. Support mechanisms to enable staff to carry out their roles and responsibilities helped staff to reflect on their work.

People's needs, and wishes were assessed alongside their representatives before their care and support started and; then kept under regular review. The registered manager worked with a range of community health and social care professionals when this was required and to support relatives to achieve positive outcomes for people.

The provider had processes to support people where required with their medicines. People would only require support to take their medicines if this was part of their care service.

People's care and support was adjusted to their individual needs and requirements. Staff knew people who used the service well and provided continuity of care which was responsive to people’s needs and valued by people and their relatives. Staff read and followed people’s support plans.

Staff supported people with their diverse needs. People had encouragement and support to carry on with the things they enjoyed doing in line with their support plans. Where required staff also supported and encouraged people to have enough to eat and drink.

People were supported by their relatives who knew how to raise any concerns or complaints with the provider. The registered manager used concerns and or complaints to make improvements to people’s care experiences. The registered manager sought to involve people, their relatives and staff in the service.

The registered manager was supported by a care coordinator and a director. As a team they promoted a positive and inclusive culture within the service; based upon open communication with others and respect for their views. Staff felt valued, well-supported and were clear what was expected of them in their caring roles.

People benefitted from a service where the registered manager had a passion and a vision to continue to provide personalised, supportive care to enhance people’s lives as the service expanded.

Rating at last inspection: This is the provider’s first inspection at their new location.

Why we inspected: This inspection was part of our scheduled plan of visiting services to check the safety and quality of care people received.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive until we return, as part of the inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk