Archived: Apex Prime Care Havant

Updated 6 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 undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

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 41 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be available to support the inspection. Inspection activity started on 12 November 2019 and ended on 15 November 2019. This included visiting the office to speak with the registered manager, interview staff and review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager, a team leader and three care coordinators. We spoke with one professional who was familiar with the service. We looked at ten people's care records including their medicine records. We looked at training records for the staff team and we examined seven staff members recruitment and supervision records. We viewed documents relating to the management of the service such as complaints and compliments, satisfaction surveys and quality audits.

After the inspection

We contacted seven people and four relatives for feedback on the service. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 6 February 2020

About the service

Apex Prime Care Havant is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of inspection there were 87 people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

At the last inspection we found that medicines administration records had not been consistently completed. At this inspection we saw that this had now been improved. Risks to people had been assessed and planned for and there were appropriate policies and systems in place to protect people from abuse. Safe recruitment processes were followed and there were sufficient staff employed to meet people’s needs. People confirmed that staff attended calls and were mostly on time and consistent. Where an incident or accident had occurred, the registered manager had robust procedures in place.

People were supported to have 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. People and their relatives predominately had confidence in the ability of staff. Staff received regular supervisions and appraisals and training that enabled them to meet the needs of most people being supported. People's nutritional and hydration needs were managed well, and people were supported to see health care professionals according to their needs.

People and their relatives were positive about the care and support received; we were told of times where staff had exceeded what was expected of them and that their views were listened to. The provider told us how they ensured that call times and visits were led by people and staff were sensitive and respectful when talking about the people they supported.

The provider had a holistic approach towards providing person centred care. The provider understood the importance of social activities to people's wellbeing and had developed community resources to help people live as full a life as possible. The care plans were comprehensive and provided staff with clear guidelines on how care should be delivered. People and their relatives knew how to complain if they needed to and felt they would be listened to.

At our last inspection the provider had failed to notify us of allegations of possible abuse. This was a breach of Regulation 18 of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009. The required improvements had been made at this inspection and the provider was no longer in breach of regulation 18.

The registered manager followed current and relevant legislation along with best practice guidelines. People and their relatives were predominately positive about the registered manager and office. However, some of the feedback highlighted that some people and their relatives felt that there was a lack of communication at times between the office and the carers.

At our last inspection quality assurance audits were not consistently effective in monitoring the quality of care provided. This was a breach of Regulation 17 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. Good governance.

The required improvements had been made at this inspection and the provider was no longer in breach of regulation 17.

The registered manager understood the importance of continuous learning and they had implemented new systems to monitor the quality of the service. The service worked collaboratively with health care professionals, community organisations and charities. The registered manager promoted an ‘open-door’ culture and encouraged informal opportunities for people and their relatives to feedback to the service in addition to the more structured regular review meetings.

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

Rating at last inspection (and update)

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 14 November 2018) and there were two breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do, and when, to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

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.