Background to this inspection
Updated
22 September 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 one inspector and one Expert by Experience who spoke with people on the telephone. 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 was also registered for nursing care; however, they were not providing nursing care to people at the time of the inspection.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means the provider and manager were legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
We gave a short period of notice for the inspection. We needed to be sure the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. We also needed to arrange to speak with people and for documents to be sent to us.
Inspection activity started on 24 August 2021 and ended on 27 August 2021. We visited the office location on 24 August 2021 and 26 August 2021.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We received no feedback. 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 five people who used the service and five relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager, care coordinator, and care workers.
We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records. We reviewed medicines records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.
Updated
22 September 2021
About the service
Exclusive Care Services is an independent domiciliary care agency which provides personal care and support for people in their own homes. The agency provides care and support for people in the Gravesend area of Kent. People receiving care and support were predominantly children aged six years old and up, young adults while some were elderly. At the time of our inspection, they were supporting 60 people.
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
Feedback from people and relatives were positive. One person said, “I’m very happy with the service I’m having.” A relative said, “They are very professional. They are thorough.”
Children and young people were protected from the risk of abuse. Staff knew what their responsibilities were in relation to keeping children and young people safe from the risk of abuse. There were systems in place to support staff and people to stay safe. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs. The registered manager had appropriate arrangements in place to ensure there were always enough staff to cover calls.
Medicines were managed safely, and people received them as prescribed. Policies and procedures were in place for the safe administration of medicines and medicine competency checks were completed for staff.
Robust recruitment processes were in place. This safeguarded and prevented unsuitable staff from working with children, young people and adults. Staff were skilled in carrying out their role. A relative said, “I think strongly that they have to be trained for constant intervention and interaction with the client.” The registered manager ensured staff were appropriately trained.
Staff treated children, young people and adults with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs. They provided emotional support to them.
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. For example, staff had the information they needed to support people to make choices. Staff knew people had the right to make unwise decisions.
Complaints policies and procedures were in place and these were followed. Complaints were recorded and actioned.
There was a system in place to monitor the quality of the service. This had been effective in identifying where improvements were needed and the registered manager actioned these.
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 15 January 2020 and this was the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the length of time since the service registered with us.
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.