3 December 2019
During a routine inspection
Access24 Health and Medical Services Ltd is a domiciliary care agency registered to offer support and personal care to older and younger adults with dementia, brain injury, learning difficulties, physical difficulties and mental health difficulties. Although a number of people received support from the service, only one person received personal care. CQC only inspects when people receive personal care. Due to the limited personal care support offered by the service we are unable to give a rating. There is currently insufficient information available for us to form a judgement.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found.
Some medicine administration processes needed to be strengthened, however, people received their medicines as prescribed and in their preferred manner.
People were cared for safely. Risk assessments were in place and reviewed regularly and as people’s needs changed. Staff understood safeguarding procedures.
Pre-employment checks were carried out to ensure that only suitable staff were employed. There were enough staff to meet people’s care needs.
People’s care records contained clear information covering all aspects of their care and support needs. Staff had a good understanding of people’s wishes and individual preferences. People’s personal histories, preferences and dislikes and diversity needs such as cultural or religious needs were considered within the care plans. Staff received training to meet people’s needs.
People made decisions about their daily routines and these were respected by staff. People were supported to access health care services when needed. People received support from reliable, compassionate staff.
Staff enjoyed working at the service and there was good communication and team work. Staff were caring in their approach and people were treated with respect. Staff maintained people’s dignity and promoted their independence.
The registered manager was also the provider. They were involved in all aspects of the running of the service. Further work was required to ensure there was a robust and effective quality assurance and audit system in place.
The registered manager worked in an open and transparent way and was keen to develop and improve the service. People knew how to make a complaint if they were not satisfied with the service received.
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 more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
At the last inspection of this service we were unable to give a rating (published 12 July 2019).
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.