Angel Holistic Care Limited

Updated 7 October 2021

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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by an inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

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 of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 11 August 2021 and ended on 26 August 2021. We visited the office location on 11 and 17 August 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since its registration. We sought feedback from the local authority. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with seven relatives of people who used the service, and received written feedback from eight people and relatives, about their experience of the care provided. In addition, we spoke with the registered manager, two deputy managers, the care coordinator and two care workers. We also obtained written feedback from ten staff.

We reviewed a range of records. These included two people’s care and medication records, two staff files and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, such as training records, incident records, compliments and complaints and policies and procedures.

Updated 7 October 2021

About the service

Angel Holistic Care Limited is a domiciliary care service, providing personal care and support to older adults in their own homes. Some of this is live-in care, where a care worker is on hand in the person’s home for 24 hours a day. Angel Holistic Care operates solely in and around Shaftesbury, Dorset.

Not everyone who used the service receives 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. During the inspection, the service was providing personal care to 11 people.

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

There was an exceptionally clear, strong person-centred culture, reflected in all aspects of the service, that encouraged and supported people to live as they wished to. People, relatives and staff were unanimously positive about the service’s caring ethos. People and relatives had high praise for the empathy they experienced from especially caring staff, including the registered manager. Staff across the service had a sensitive and compassionate approach to their work. There was an emphasis on matching people with compatible staff, particularly for live-in care, and we heard much about how well staff got to know people and their families.

The service had strengths in end of life care. Staff and managers responded swiftly to people’s changing needs, advocating for people to ensure they had the necessary support from health professionals. Staff were skilled in understanding and meeting the needs of people and their families at the end of the person’s life. Managers supported staff working with dying people, with empathy and understanding.

People and relatives indicated they or their loved one felt safe with their care workers and were confident in their ability to provide safe, effective care. Appropriate infection prevention and control measures were in place. People had the support they needed with their medicines and received these as prescribed.

People had a small, regular team of staff. The registered manager only took on new care packages when they were assured there were enough staff for these. Staff were positive about the way the service supported them in their roles, through training, supervision and informal support. There were thorough recruitment checks before staff commenced work, to ensure they were suitable to work in care.

Relatives and people gave us extensive positive feedback about people’s care. Assessments were thorough and care plans holistic, individualised and up to date. Where the service assisted people with preparing and eating meals, they and their relatives were happy with this aspect of their care. The service supported people to receive any healthcare they needed.

People received personalised care. Staff understood and met their individual needs, following directions in clearly written care plans. With the appropriate consent, relatives had access to their loved one’s electronic care records and were kept informed about their care. People and relatives felt able to raise any concerns about care with the management team, confident appropriate action would be taken.

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, relatives and staff voiced confidence in the leadership. The registered manager and staff were clear about their roles and responsibilities. The registered manager maintained good oversight through audits, spot checks, review of incidents and supervision. Feedback from people, relatives and staff was used to enhance the quality of the service. The service worked in partnership with other organisations to help ensure the best outcomes for people.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 29 January 2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on when the service was first registered with CQC.

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.