Background to this inspection
Updated
29 September 2023
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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
Registered Manager
This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.
At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 24 hours' notice of the inspection. This was to ensure the registered manager would be available in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 8 August 2023 and ended on 5 September 2023. We visited the location’s office on 8 and 29 August 2023.
What we did before inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with 5 people who used the service and 6 people’s relatives. We sought feedback from professionals that work with the service. We spoke with 13 staff members, including the registered manager, director, operations director, intermediate care manager, on-boarding manager, and care workers.
We looked at 6 people’s care records and where applicable, records relating to the support given with their medicines. We also looked at a range of records relating to the management and monitoring of the service. These included, 3 staff recruitment files, supervision and training records, visits lists, spot check observation records, incident reports, provider’s Statement of Purpose and a range of the providers quality assurance records, policies, and procedures.
Updated
29 September 2023
About the service
ECare Community is a domiciliary care service that provides care and support to people living in their own homes. This includes a reablement service designed to provide short term care, for a period of up to 6 weeks to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions, or following a hospital stay. The service operates in the Tendring, and north Essex area. At the time of our inspection there were approximately 114 people using the service, which included 76 using the reablement service.
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
People felt safe using the service and felt comfortable receiving care in their homes. A person said, “I find them [staff] all very good, I get on well with them.” Where people received support with their medicines, they told us they received them as prescribed.
Staff were kind and caring. People's diverse needs were considered, and people were protected from discrimination. A person told us they received a, “Good service,” another person said that staff, “Allow me the freedom to be ordinary.”
Staff demonstrated a culture of working with people to retain their independence and building up their confidence and abilities to support them in this area. This reflected the positive feedback we received from people using the reablement service and relatives.
Risks associated with people’s individual needs were assessed with measures in place to mitigate them. Lessons were learned when things went wrong because staff understood their responsibilities to report accidents and incidents. Systems were in place to review and oversee accidents and incidents and action was swiftly taken to mitigate risks to people. Staff received training and were aware of the procedures to follow to prevent and control the spread of infection.
Staff received an appropriate induction and were well supported through a programme of regular supervision and training. Staff told us they enjoyed their work and felt valued and supported by the management who they described as approachable.
There were systems in place to monitor calls and provide out of hours support. People and their relatives told us there had been no missed visits, staff respected their home and listened and acted on what they said. People and relatives felt comfortable to raise any concerns with members of the management team direct.
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 felt the service was well led. Systems were in place to check staff followed safe practice and gain people’s views of the service, and act on any feedback as part of driving improvements. We found the management team to be open where there had been problems introducing new systems, and actions they had taken to address them.
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 good (published 19 July 2017).
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for ECare Community on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.