We carried out a review of the data available to us about Acorn Care Service 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 Acorn Care Service, you can give feedback on this service.
Acorn Care Services is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care for people who require this due to older age, illness or disability. At the time of the inspection the agency was providing a personal care service for 39 people living in the towns of Newport, Ryde, Sandown, Shanklin and surrounding areas on the Isle of Wight. 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
We received positive feedback from people or their family member about the service they were receiving. People felt they were cared for with warmth and kindness and spoke highly of the care 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; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
The registered manager took prompt action to ensure consistent use of disposable aprons when providing personal care. People told us they felt safe when receiving care. Medicines were safely managed and staff contacted healthcare professionals when required.
People told us they had been involved in care planning and care plans reflected people's individual needs and choices. Staff were responsive to people's needs, which were detailed in care plans accessible to staff via an electronic system. People's risk assessments and risks relating to their home environment were completed and helped reduce risks to people.
Safe recruitment practices were followed and appropriate checks were undertaken, which helped make sure only suitable staff were employed to care for people in their own homes. There were enough care staff to maintain the schedule of visits.
Staff told us they felt supported, received training and supervision and had time to complete their schedule of work.
People had regular contact from office staff who they were confident would listen to them and take any necessary action should the need arise. The registered manager, office staff and care staff team were committed to ensuring people received a service which was caring.
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 17 July 2019).
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by the length of time since the previous inspection.
For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has remained good.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.
Acorn Care is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care for people who require this due to old age, dementia, physical disability, sensory impairment, learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder. 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. At the time of the inspection the agency was providing personal care for approximately 45 people living on the Isle of Wight.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were happy with the service they received from Acorn Care. We received positive feedback from people about the service and all people who used the service spoke very highly of the care staff. People told us they felt safe and secure when receiving care.
People’s risk assessments and those relating to their home environment were detailed and helped reduce risks to people while maintaining their independence. People told us they had been involved in care planning and care plans reflected people’s individual needs and choices. Staff were responsive to people’s needs, which were detailed in care plans.
People were cared for with kindness and compassion, privacy, dignity and independence were promoted. People were supported to meet their nutritional and hydration needs, and staff contacted healthcare professionals when required.
Staff understood consent and were clear that people had the right to make their own choices. 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.
Safe recruitment practices were followed, and appropriate checks were undertaken, which helped make sure only suitable staff were employed to care for people in their own homes. There were enough care staff to maintain the schedule of visits. Staff told us they felt supported, received regular supervision and training.
People felt listened to and a complaints procedure was in place. The provider sought feedback from people using regular reviews and a yearly survey.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The service was rated as Good at the last full comprehensive inspection, the report for which was published in January 2017.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
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.
Acorn Care Services provides personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of this inspection the agency was providing a personal care service to 47 people with a variety of care needs, including people living with physical care needs or memory loss due to progression of age. The agency was providing a service to people across the North, South and East of the Isle of Wight.
The agency had two registered managers each having specific management responsibilities. 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.
Recruitment procedures were in place and amended during the inspection to ensure staff were safe to work with people. There were sufficient numbers of care staff to maintain the schedule of visits. Staff told us they felt supported and received regular supervision.
We received positive feedback from people about the service. All people who used the service expressed great satisfaction and spoke very highly of the care staff and the way the agency was managed.
People told us they felt safe and secure when receiving care. Staff received training in safeguarding adults, knew how to recognise and respond to abuse and understood their responsibility to report any concerns.
People’s risk assessments and those relating to their homes’ environment were detailed and helped reduce risks to people while maintaining their independence. Staff were responsive to people’s needs, which were detailed in care plans. People told us they had been involved in care planning and care plans reflected people’s individual needs and choices.
People were cared for with kindness and compassion. People who used the service said their privacy and dignity were respected. People were supported to eat and drink when needed and staff contacted healthcare professionals when required. Staff had an understanding of consent and were clear that people had the right to make their own choices.
People felt listened to and a complaints procedure was in place. The provider sought feedback from people through the use of a regular reviews and a yearly survey. The results from the latest survey were positive. Systems were in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service people received.
Care plans and risk assessments were in place and these were reviewed regularly. These were person-centred and detailed to ensure care staff knew exactly how to care for each individual. People we spoke with said they received regular care reviews, which involved a visit from agency office staff to check their needs were adequately provided for. People told us they got to know their carers well and several said their carers had become their friends. One person said, 'They do everything how I like it, they're very kind and gentle'. Another told us, 'It's very, very good, we totally rely on them and we wouldn't be able to stay in our home without them'.
A system was in place to ensure people received the care calls they required. If care staff were delayed they informed people to reassure them they would be getting the support they needed. A member of staff was on duty out of office hours to provide advice and support to care staff should they need it. This system meant if a member of staff was absent due to sickness, the member of staff could arrange for their calls to be covered. People told us care staff arrived on time and if they were delayed they received a phone call from the office to let them know. This meant people received continuity of care.
Sufficient staff were available to ensure people received the care they required. Agency and bank staff were not used, and a 'floating' carer was employed to cover staff absence. New staff received a thorough induction and ongoing training was provided to ensure staff skills were up to date. People we spoke with said staff always turned up. A relative told us, 'We are always warned about a change of carer and Mum is always OK as they are all very good'. The majority of people we spoke felt care staff had the skills they needed. One person said, 'When the new ones start they come out with their superiors for quite a while before they let them do it on their own.'
A programme of staff supervision, appraisal and spot-checks was in place, to ensure the quality of care provided by staff was monitored. One person told us, 'They come out regularly to check they're doing the job properly'.
Quality assurance procedures were in place, including consultation with people who used the service or their relatives and an annual questionnaire. People using the service and staff were confident that concerns reported to the manager were acted on quickly. This meant people using the service and staff could influence the service provided by the agency.
People said that the agency had carried out an assessment of their needs to ensure that they could meet them before a service was provided. They told us that the agency had involved them or their relatives in the process.
We were told that the agency provided them with information which included the type of support the agency was able to provide. They were aware of the telephone number and who to contact during office hours, weekends and out of hours.
People described the staff as very kind, friendly, helpful and courteous. They said that they felt that their dignity and privacy was respected when receiving care.
The relatives and people receiving care told us that they usually had the same staff which meant that there was continuity in their care. They told us that they were aware of the times of their visits and staff usually kept to those times.
We were told that they had developed good relationships with their care staff and comments included 'they treat you with respect. All the girls are very good.' People told us that the staff had built up a good relationship with their relatives and they had' a good rapport.'
They said that they would contact the manager and any issues were quickly resolved. One person said' they are willing to listen' and this helped to 'iron out any problems.'