Archived: Absolute Care Services (Sutton)

Updated 27 April 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

This inspection was completed by one inspector and two experts 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 was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because senior staff are often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in. The inspection site visit took place on 10 April 2019. We visited the office location on this date to see the senior staff team and to review records, policies and procedures.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about this service including notifications the provider is required by law to send us about events and incidents involving people. The provider was not able to complete a Provider Information Return. 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.

During the inspection we spoke to the senior staff team which included the managing director, the operations director and the newly appointed manager for the service. We looked at eight people’s care records, four staff files and other records relating to the management of the service including policies and procedures. After the inspection we spoke to ten people using the service and 7 relatives. We asked them for their views and experiences of the service.

Updated 27 April 2019

About the service:

• Absolute Care Services (Sutton) is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’, that is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do this, we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection there were 76 people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

• People said staff were caring and supported them in a dignified, respectful way which maintained their privacy and independence.

• People’s views were sought to help the provider plan and deliver care that was tailored to their needs.

• People’s records contained up to date information for staff about how their care should be provided in a way that not only met their needs but kept them safe. People told us staff were able to meet their needs and respected their preferences and choices about how their care and support was provided.

• People said they felt safe with staff who understood the risks to their safety and wellbeing. Staff followed good practice to minimise risks from poor hygiene and cleanliness when providing personal care and when preparing and handling food. Staff knew how to safeguard people from abuse and how to report any concerns to the appropriate individual and/or authority.

• Staff asked for people’s consent before providing any support. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

• People were supported to stay healthy and well. Staff helped them to eat and drink enough to meet their needs and to take their prescribed medicines. Staff sought extra help and support for people if they need this, for example when they became unwell. They worked with other healthcare professionals to ensure a joined-up approach to the care people received.

• There were enough staff to support people. The provider made sure staff were suitable to support people through their recruitment and selection practices. They gave staff relevant training to help them meet people’s needs and supported them to continuously improve their working practices.

• People knew how to make a complaint if needed and the provider had arrangements in place to deal with this. The provider recorded and investigated any accidents and incidents that occurred, and kept people involved and informed of the outcome. Learning from complaints and investigations was shared with staff to help them improve the quality and safety of the support they provided.

• The service had a new manager in post. They, and staff, were well supported by the provider who made sure they had clearly defined roles and responsibilities for delivering high quality care and support to people.

• The provider had improved those areas of the service where we had previously found concerns. We saw positive changes made to systems for reporting notifications, staff recruitment, medicines audits and arrangements for scheduled visits to people.

• The provider was continuing to improve the quality and safety of the service and sought people and staff’s views about how they should do this. New technology was being introduced at the service that would give people more access to information about their support. This would also provide staff instant information about the support provided to people to help them monitor that people were getting the right care and support at the right time.

• The provider worked in partnership with other agencies such as local authorities funding people’s care to develop and improve the support provided.

Rating at last inspection:

• At the last inspection the service was rated ‘Requires Improvement’ (18/04/2018). At this inspection we found the service meet the characteristics of a good service. The service rating has improved to ‘Good’.

Why we inspected:

• This inspection was planned based on the previous rating of ‘Requires Improvement’. In these instances, we return to a service within 12 months of the publication of the last report to check that the service had taken the action needed to improve.

Follow up:

• We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive safe, compassionate, high quality care. Further inspections will be planned in line with our inspection schedule or in response to concerns.

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