Archived: E.C.H.O. Care Limited

Updated 20 February 2019

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The comprehensive inspection took place on 11 December 2018. We gave the provider 48 hours' notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to make sure someone would be in the office. As part of our inspection we also visited one of the supported living houses.

One inspector undertook this inspection. Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service.

We considered information which had been shared with us by the local authority and clinical commissioning group. The provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We reviewed previous inspection reports and notifications received from the service before the inspection. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. This enabled us to ensure we were addressing any potential areas of concern.

During our inspection, we observed how people and staff interacted. We spoke with two people using the service. We also spoke with the nominated individual, the operations manager, the manager of one of the support living houses and two support workers.

We looked at care records for two people, medication administration records (MAR), several policies and procedures, four staff files for recruitment staff training, induction, supervision and appraisal, staff rotas, complaints records, accident and incident records, audits and minutes of meetings.

Updated 20 February 2019

E.C.H.O. Care Limited is a small domiciliary care agency located in Horsham. It provides personal care and support to adults with learning difficulties and complex behavioural needs primarily in a supported living or shared housing environment. The agency also provides a service to people in their homes within the Horsham and Crawley areas. At the time of our inspection the service was providing care and support to 23 people.

At our last inspection in April 2016 we rated the service Good. We found the evidence continued to support the rating of Good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

The service met all relevant fundamental standards.

The service had a positive culture that was person-centred, open and inclusive. There was a strong emphasis on putting people first. People had individual plans of care and risk assessments.

It is a requirement of the provider's registration that they have a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The service had a registered manager in place. It was well led, and the registered manager was aware of their legal responsibilities.

Staff were enthusiastic and keen to talk about their role. Staff were proud of the service and their work. They felt supported within their roles and held the management team in high regard. Recruitment practices were robust, and staff received training appropriate to their role and the needs of the people living at the service.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.