Archived: Eleanor Nursing and Social Care Ltd - Northumberland Office

Eleanor Nursing and Social Care Ltd - Northumberland Office is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to 23 people. 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 were safeguarded against the risk of abuse. People told us they felt safe and said that no-one had ever made them feel uncomfortable or nervous.

We received mixed feedback about staffing. Some people and relatives told us that staff were sometimes late or did not stay for the full length of time. We have made a recommendation that the provider keeps staff deployment, including the length and times of calls, under review to ensure staff deployment meets people’s assessed needs. The registered manager told us that an electronic monitoring system was being introduced which would enable management staff to monitor calls and any issues in ‘real time’.

Recruitment checks were carried out before prospective staff started at the service to help ensure they were suitable to work with vulnerable people. Recruitment was ongoing. The registered manager had introduced an employee referral, recognition and reward scheme to help them find and retain staff.

Safe infection control procedures were followed. People and relatives told us that staff wore PPE to help reduce the risk of infection. Staff undertook regular testing to check for COVID-19.

There was a system in place to manage medicines safely. Staff had completed training and competency checks were carried out.

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.

There had been a delay in the provider sending us requested information regarding concerns which had been raised anonymously. This information was supplied at the time of the inspection. We have made a recommendation that the provider reviews their communication systems to ensure information requested by CQC is submitted in a timely manner.

Audits were carried out to monitor the quality and safety of the service. The provider was reviewing and strengthening their electronic quality monitoring system to support management staff access information and produce reports in a timely manner.

There were systems in place to involve people, relatives and staff in the running of the service. Anonymous surveys were carried out. Some people and relatives told us that more communication would be appreciated. The regional manager explained they were reviewing the effectiveness of the anonymous surveys.

There was a cheerful atmosphere at the office when we visited. Staff spoke positively about working at the service and the people they supported. People and relatives were complimentary about the care staff and said they were polite, friendly and willing to help. Comments included, “Staff are very friendly and [ person] gets on with them very well,” “I am really glad to see them when they arrive” and “They treat both of us with dignity and respect and we are very grateful for what they do.”

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 12 March 2021).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Recommendations

We have made recommendations in the safe and well-led key questions in relation to staff deployment and provider communication. Please see these sections for further details.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Eleanor Nursing and Social Care Ltd - Northumberland Office is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to 48 people. 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

Staff and people told us they did not feel there were enough staff to meet people’s needs. Staff’s comments included, “I do not feel there is enough staff to cover the amount of customers we have. We’ve recently had a lot of staff leave and the staff that have been joining haven’t been staying long. This makes it extra work for the other staff members such as myself and others who feel pressured to do more work and go to areas they wouldn’t usually go to for just one job because there isn’t enough staff.” People’s comments included “I don’t like new staff. I mostly get the same staff but sometimes get new staff due to sickness and annual leave There have been lots of changes recently. Staff get lots of different rotas they are constantly changing. I think they could do with more staff.”

People spoke positively about the care staff and the support they received. Their comments included, “The girls are nice, and I have no complaints. I feel safe with the girls. The girls know what they are doing and do everything I ask” and “I am very happy with care I have no complaints. The carers know what they are doing, and I feel safe with them. I am happy with the carers.” One relative explained that there family member, due to their dementia, didn't always recognise staff when they were wearing their masks. They said "She gets confused but staff are very good about reassuring her about who they are and comforting her."

Staff had received training in the safe management of medicines and had their competencies assessed to ensure they were administering medicines correctly. Staff worked with other health and social care professionals to meet people's needs.

People were supported with their dietary needs if required. People said they were supported with meals and staff always asked what they would like to eat or drink.

The service worked in partnership with other agencies to ensure people’s needs were met. People’s health was monitored during each visit and any concerns reported to office staff for action.

People and their relatives said they felt involved in planning their care and were able to share their preferences for how they wished care to be provided. Care plans recorded people’s care requirements and preferences for how they wished to receive care.

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.

Systems were in place for the management of infection prevention and control. Staff were able to explain how they put on and took off their PPE. People we spoke with confirmed staff always wore PPE.

Quality assurance systems had been effectively implemented to assess the quality of the service and identify actions for improvements. The manager had an action plan in place to support this.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 27/05/2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was the first inspection of the service. The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about the service. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine all domains.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe section of this full report.

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.