Expertise Homecare (South East Coast)

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 received their agreed care calls but told us carers often arrived later than scheduled but were kept informed when this happened. The provider acknowledged the difficulties with recruiting staff at present and had taken action to combine routes and hand back to the local authority some harder to cover routes in order to manage and sustain care delivery.

Staff felt the agency was a good place to work, but some said they did not always feel supported or listened to. Staff supervision frequency had increased and team meetings had resumed, but care staff felt distanced from office staff feeling that communication and their concerns were being overlooked. The provider is taking action to address this, and this remains an area for improvement.

A quality assurance system was in place and audits were undertaken weekly, monthly and six monthly, to identify shortfalls, but a few audits needed to be conducted more robustly for example, recruitment. The franchiser also had oversight of the service and undertook annual compliance inspections.

People spoke positively about the agency, they said they felt safe and were happy with the care they received. They said staff always asked them before offering support. They were involved in their care plans which were detailed, and person centred. They were asked for feedback on a monthly basis. They were sent surveys and provided with a summary of survey outcomes and what the service was doing with the information people gave them to aid service development.

Staff were trained to administer medicines safely but we found some improvements were needed around use of 'as required' medicines and pain patches for individuals.

Staff received appropriate induction, and training to undertake their role.

Accidents and incidents were recorded and responded to well, to keep people and staff safe. People told us they knew how to complain and were satisfied with how their complaints were managed. Staff understood how to keep people safe and the provider had shown themselves to be proactive in identifying, and reporting abuse when they found it in their everyday support of service users.

People and relatives felt the management team and office staff were easy to talk with and felt happy and comfortable approaching them at any time.

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.