Prime Nursing and Care

Updated 8 February 2020

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, flats and specialist housing.

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

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. The inspection activity started on 07 January 2020. We visited the office location on the 13 January 2020.

What we did before the inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is the 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. We reviewed the information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who worked with the service.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people and five relatives about their experience of the care that had been provided. We also spoke with five members of staff, including the registered manager. We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and medication records. We also looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision.

Updated 8 February 2020

About the service

Prime Nursing and Care provides personal care and support to 27 people, living in their own homes. 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 and their relatives, and staff spoke highly of the registered manager and was confident about the service they received. The feedback given by everyone described the service as being good and that they had developed effective and meaningful relationships with staff.

The registered manager and senior staff knew people very well. The registered manager carried out regular surveys and spot checks. Audits had been carried out, but these were not always recorded.

People were supported by regular staff, and the occurrence of experiencing late visits were minimal. People told us staff knew them well. People received their medicine at the right time and in the right way. The staff had access to protective equipment and had been trained in infection control.

Staff had been trained in a wide range of topics and told us they had an induction when they had started. People were supported to have as much choice and control over their lives and were supported in the least restrictive way possible. Policies and systems in the service support this practice.

People told us the staff were caring and treated them in a respectful and dignified way. Care plans were in place, which provided guidance for staff about how to deliver responsive care to people. At the time of the inspection, the service was not delivering care to people who were at the end of their life.

Detailed information relating to people’s health needs had been retained within people's care plans. Further development was required specifying what oral health care was needed. We have made a recommendation about oral health care.

The registered manager completed a range of risk assessments, which were person centred and detailed. There were enough staff to deliver care to people, and systems were in place to monitor the frequency of late or missed care calls.

People told us they knew how to raise a complaint if they needed to but had no reason to complain about the service received. Compliments had been made about the service.

People told us the registered manager was easily contactable and that communication was good. The registered manager had not considered how the accessible communication could be applied and needed to ensure that people had access to information in different formats which met their needs. We have made a recommendation about accessible communication.

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

Rating at last inspection; he last rating for this service was Good. (16 April 2017)

Why we inspected; This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up We will continue to monitor the 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.