Axe Valley Home Care Limited

At the time of our inspection 127 people were being supported with personal care by this service.

The provider had been making changes to the staff routes by putting in place clusters to minimise the distance staff travelled between visits. They had developed small teams of staff in each cluster, so there would be continuity. This had been successfully rolled out in Seaton but was causing anxiety for people in Exmouth where it was being rolled out.

The provider told us at the beginning of the pandemic they had considered the best use of the office team. They had decided not to send out weekly care rota's in order to prepare staffing time and resilience for managing the service in the pandemic. They had written to everyone using the service setting out the time of their visits as commissioned and naming the locality supervisor and key worker.

The provider recognised that they could have improved their communication with people about the changes. They had restarted sending out their monthly newsletter in October 2020 which advised people, they had taken onboard the need to improve communication, particularly in terms of visit times.

Staff did not always speak positively about staffing, the way visits were scheduled, and the changes communicated about their rotas. The provider said they were in regular communication with the staff through newsletters and staff supervisions. However, they had recognised staff were under additional pressure during the pandemic and the changes being made and had increased their visibility in the community to support staff.

Improvements had been made to ensure that systems and processes were operated effectively to ensure people were protected from abuse and improper treatment. They were ensuring the providers policy to

safeguard vulnerable adults was being followed.

The provider had a business continuity plan which set out how they would operate in extreme conditions. They had risk assessed each visit people received to prioritise visits in case they needed to implement their business continuity plan. They also employed rapid response staff to cover staff absences to help ensure people received their visit.

Medicines continued to be safely managed and people told us staff wore the correct PPE during their visits. The service had implemented a number of additional infection control measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

People were given the opportunity to provide feedback to the service about their experience of the care received. Quality monitoring calls were completed on a quarterly basis to speak with people to ask about the service they receive and if they had any concerns.

We have made a recommendation that the provider continues to look at their communication methods and ensure the new systems they have put in place are fully embedded so improvements continue and are sustained.