We carried out a review of the data available to us about Agile Care Services Peterborough 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 Agile Care Services Peterborough, you can give feedback on this service.
Agile Care Services Peterborough is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to adults living in their own homes. Personal care was provided to 15 people at the time of the inspection.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care. 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
This service had improved since our last inspection. People, relatives, and staff made positive comments about their experiences of the service.
At our last inspection we found the provider to be in breach of regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act (2008). Due to the improvements made since the last inspection the provider was no longer in breach of this regulation.
The management team completed quality assurance audits. However, they had failed to identify that full employment histories had not been obtained for all staff prior to employment. After our inspection the registered manager explained they had requested this information from all existing staff. Going forward, they said this information would be obtained and assessed prior to employment. Where audits had identified shortfalls, they reviewed these, and recorded action plans or actions taken to bring about improvement.
The management team sought people’s views about the service and acted on their suggestions. People and a relative made positive comments about the service they received. They said the registered manager and management team were approachable and responsive.
People told us they trusted the staff who provided their care. All staff, including the registered manager, understood their responsibilities under safeguarding. They knew how to report and escalate any concerns. Staff were confident the management team would take any concerns they raised seriously.
People told us they were happy with the care they received. People’s risk assessments and care plans provided guidance for staff about people’s needs and preferences. They were reviewed regularly and when required. Medicines were well managed. The registered manager told us shortly after the inspection that they had made an improvement to the information for staff about medicines prescribed to be administered, “When required.” This would help improve consistency.
Staff received regular training which included infection prevention and control. Staff understood their roles and felt supported by the management team.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 7 August 2019). There was one breach of regulation. 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 regulation.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating. We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 8 and 9 July 2019. A breach of legal requirements was found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve good governance of the service.
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Responsive, and Well-led which contain those requirements.
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 changed from requires improvement to 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 Agile Care Services Peterborough 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.
This service was registered with us on 19 July 2018 and this is the first inspection.
People’s experience of using this service:
People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice. Not everyone felt their choices and preferences were met.
Care plans lacked good guidance for staff on how to deliver the appropriate care. They also lacked risk assessments in relation to people’s identified risks.
Recruitment processes needed to improve. Employment gaps were not reviewed, references not checked. Where required risk assessments were not in place for information recorded in Disclosure and Barring Service checks.
There were not always enough staff to meet people’s needs. This had resulted in late and missed calls. However, the registered manager now contacted staff daily to ensure all visits were attended.
The registered manager had not documented incidents to ensure they were reviewed and lessons learnt were shared with staff.
Most call visits we looked at were delivered within the 30 minutes allowed either side of the visit time before this was noted as a late call. However, staff did not always note the end time of the call. This meant the registered manager was unable to clarify the length of the visit by staff.
People views and choices about their care and support were not always supported, care plan reviews had not been completed. The registered manager has now confirmed that this process has started.
We received mixed feedback about the care people received. Most people were happy with their care and support, but this was not everyone’s experience.
Complaints, accidents and incidents were not documented. This meant we were unable to ensure people’s concerns, incidents and accidents were responded to appropriately. Audits were not completed regularly to ensure the quality of the service.
People told us they felt the care and support they received was safe. Staff received training in safeguarding and they knew how to report their concerns internally and externally to safeguarding authorities.
Staff received regular training, and their competencies were checked during unannounced spot checks.
Rating at last inspection:
This was the first rating for this service.
Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection.
You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.
Follow up: We will ask the provider for an action plan to detail how they will address the issues raised in this report. We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.