We carried out a review of the data available to us about Personal Choice Carers At Home Limited 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 Personal Choice Carers At Home Limited, you can give feedback on this service.
Personal Choice Carers at Home Limited is a domiciliary care service providing personal care and support for people in their own homes, some of whom may be living with dementia. Not everyone who uses the service may receive 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. At the time of our inspection the service were providing personal care to 16 people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Feedback from people and their relatives about the service was universally positive and everyone we spoke with said they would recommend the service to others. This was summed up by one person who said, "We think they [the company] are the cats whiskers. To [named person] and myself they are our family. Nothing is too much trouble and how nice it is to se a boss working alongside the staff."
People felt safe and well cared for using the service. People benefitted from being supported by regular care staff. This meant staff got to know people very well and provided care and support the way people wanted.
Risks to people had been identified and staff knew what to do to keep people safe. There were enough staff employed who had been safely recruited. Staff had enough time to spend with people. People received their calls on time and staff stayed for the full duration. No-one had experienced a missed visit.
Medicines were managed safely by staff who had been trained and assessed as competent. Staff adhered to good infection control practices, such as wearing gloves and aprons to prevent the spread of infection.
We made a recommendation about medicine competency assessments.
Staff received training and support to be competent in their role. Staff felt well supported and enjoyed working at the service. People's needs had been assessed to be sure the service could meet them. People's choices and preferences were known and respected.
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 received help with meals and drinks that met their needs and preferences. Health needs had been assessed and people were supported to access healthcare services when needed. The service worked in partnership with a range of health and social care professionals to support people with their health and wellbeing. Feedback from professionals showed the service worked effectively with external stakeholders.
Staff were kind and caring and knew people well. People were listened to and involved as partners in their care. Peoples dignity, privacy and independence was respected and upheld.
People received personalised care that met their individual needs and preferences. A complaints policy and procedure was in place and people knew how to make a complaint. No-one we spoke to had ever made a complaint and people reported high levels of satisfaction with the service. People's communication needs had been assessed and staff knew how to communicate with people effectively.
If people had any end of life wishes and preferences these were discussed with people and their families.
We made a recommendation about recording practices relating to end of life care.
The service was well led by a longstanding registered manager who was committed to providing good quality person-centred care. This commitment was shared and put into practice by the staff team. The registered manager was highly regarded by people and staff.
Quality assurance systems and processes were in place to monitor and improve safety and quality People and staff were included in the running of the service. Feedback was invited and acted upon to drive improvements.
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 (published February 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Essex Dementia Care on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Personal Choice Carers at Home is a domiciliary care agency which offers personal care, companionship and domestic help to support people living in their own home. The service provides approximately 300 hours of care per week to 19 people.
At our last inspection the service was rated as Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.
The service was safe. Care and treatment was planned and delivered in a way that was intended to ensure people's safety and welfare. People were cared for safely by staff who had been recruited and employed after appropriate checks had been completed. There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs consistently. People were supported to take their medication by staff who had received training to do so.
The service was effective. People were cared for and supported by staff who had received training to support people to meet their needs. The registered manager had a good understanding of their responsibilities in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People were supported to eat and drink enough to ensure they maintained a balanced diet and referrals to other health professionals were made when required.
The service was caring. Staff cared for people in an empathetic and kind manner. Staff had a good understanding of people’s preferences of care. Staff always worked hard to promote people’s independence through encouraging and supporting people to make informed decisions.
The service was responsive. People and their relatives were involved in the planning and review of their care. Care plans were reviewed on a regular basis and also when there was a change in care needs. People were supported to follow their interests and participate in social activities. The registered manager responded to complaints received in a timely manner.
The service was well-led. Staff, people and their relatives spoke very highly of the registered manager. The service had systems in place to monitor and provide good care and these were reviewed on a regular basis.
The inspection took place on 5 March 2015. Personal Choice Carers at Home is a domiciliary care agency which offers personal care, companionship and domestic help to support people living in their own home. There are currently 16 people using the service.
The service has a registered manager. 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 were safeguarded from the potential of harm and their freedoms protected. People were cared for safely by staff who had been recruited and employed after appropriate checks had been completed. Staff had up to date information about people’s needs which meant they were more effective in delivering appropriate care. Care and treatment was planned and delivered in a way that was intended to ensure people's safety and welfare.
Staff had received regular training and were knowledgeable about their roles and responsibilities. They had the skills, knowledge and experience required to support people with their care. The service worked well with other professionals to ensure that people's health needs were met. Where appropriate, support and guidance were sought from health care professionals, including GPs, district nurse and occupational therapist. People were supported with their nutrition and hydration needs. Staff supported people with their medication as required.
Staff knew the people they were supporting and provided a personalised service. Care plans were in place detailing how people wished to be supported and people were involved in making decisions about their care. Staff were attentive to people's needs and treated people with dignity and respect.
People were supported with activities which interested them. People knew how to make a complaint; complaints had been resolved efficiently and quickly.
The manager had a number of ways of gathering people’s views including talking with people, staff, and relatives. They carried out a number of quality monitoring audits to help ensure the service was running effectively and to make improvements.
We found that people received a safe, flexible and reliable service that met their individual needs and took into account their preferences and wishes. Each person's care and support was planned and delivered with the involvement of the individual or their representatives. The delivery service provided was regularly reviewed to ensure that people's needs were met taking into account any changes to these needs.
There were robust arrangements in place for protecting people who used the service from the risks of abuse. Staff were aware of their responsibilities to keep people using the service safe. There were effective arrangements for assessing and minimising risks to the health, safety and wellbeing of people who used the service.
People we spoke with were very complimentary about the staff who supported them. They told us that staff were ''friendly'', ''professional'' and ''caring''. There were suitable arrangements for training and supporting staff.
People we spoke with told us that they had no complaints and that they felt confident that any concerns would be taken seriously. There were arrangements for obtaining the views of people who used the service and acting upon these. The service had appropriate policies and procedures for dealing with complaints.