Abuv & Beyond

Updated 25 February 2022

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

This inspection was carried out by one 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 houses and flats.

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

This inspection to the office location was announced. Inspection activity took place between 9 December 2021 and 7 January 2022. We visited the office location on 9 December 2021 and completed our review of the inspection information by 7 January 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made judgements in this report.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke the nominated individual and the registered manager. We spoke by telephone with two people who used the service and eight relatives about their experience of the care provided.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and two people’s medication records. We looked at staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We reviewed records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found. We looked at records requested to be reviewed off site, relating to the running of the service. We spoke with five staff by telephone and local authority partners.

Updated 25 February 2022

About the service

Abuv and Beyond is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with '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 the inspection the service was supporting 42 people with personal care.

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

There were enough staff to meet the demands of the service, although recruitment practices were not sufficiently robust. There had been some shifts covered by the management team when staffing levels had been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. People felt safely supported and well cared for, and said there were consistent staff to meet their needs.

Infection prevention and control measures, such as consistent use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) were in place. Staff engaged in regular COVID-19 testing, but recording of this was not robustly completed.

We found gaps in recording of medicines, although people told us they had the right support for their medicines.

Staff training had been completed online, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic there had been no face to face training in practical tasks. The provider had begun to source practical based training for all staff.

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.

Staff had a caring approach. They knew the people they supported and there was clear information about how to meet their care needs at each visit. Care records lacked specific information to guide staff to support people where they had specific health needs and the risks that may be associated, or signs of concern.

Quality checks were carried out, although some systems and processes were not sufficiently robust and there were gaps in recording. The provider told us this was in part due to the hands-on care roles which needed to be undertaken by the management team during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have made a recommendation for the provider to consider ways to monitor the visits to people, to ensure they take place as planned and for the agreed duration.

The service was family run and the registered manager was clear about the need to separate professional and family roles in order to have an objective approach. Positive feedback overall was given about the management team and care staff were clear about their roles and responsibilities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, staff and the management team worked together to ensure visits to people were not missed.

The service was registered with is on 17/12/2019 and this is the first inspection.

We found evidence the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

The provider has given us some assurances that the issues identified though the inspection process were already under discussion and plans being considered for improvement.

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