Evergood Medicals Limited

Updated 1 August 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

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

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

This was the first inspection of a newly registered service. We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

During the inspection we spoke with 6 members of staff including the registered manager, 4 members of care staff and an administrator. We looked at 4 care plans and associated documents including risk assessments, medicine administration records (MAR), 5 staff files and records relating to auditing and quality assurance. We spoke with 2 people who used the service, four relatives and contacted 3 professionals.

Updated 1 August 2023

About the service

Evergood Medicals Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing and support to people in their own homes. People lived with a range of physical and mental health conditions, some people were being supported towards the end of their lives and some people lived with a learning disability. A the time of the inspection 28 people were being supported by the service.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

The registered manager had applied to add ‘people living with a learning disability’ to their service bands. There had been a delay in processing this application however, the inspection found that the registered manger and all staff had completed training in supporting people with a learning disability. Staff fully understood the principles of Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture and had applied their knowledge when supporting people.

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

Right Support: The service provides a model of care that supports people living in their own hones, maximising their choice, control and independence.

Relatives told us that their loved ones were supported in the least restrictive way and with their best interests being central to the care provided. People’s choice and independence was promoted without compromising their safety. Policies and training were provided to staff to ensure the best and least restrictive care was provided.

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.

Right Care: Support was person centred. People dignity and privacy were respected by an understanding and compassionate staffing team. Care plans were written in a way that described what people could do for themselves, what they enjoyed doing and what were their preferred routines. This information was provided first, ahead of the things in their lives where some support was needed.

The registered manager had forged strong working relationships with other health and social care professionals which ensured that people received the best and most appropriate support. People and their loved ones told that they felt safe when supported by staff. Safeguarding and whistleblowing policies were in place and staff told us they were confident to use these processes to safeguard and protect people if needed.

Right Culture: The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.

Despite the service being new, the registered manager had developed a positive culture within staff, all of whom had an attitude towards people that was supportive, putting people’s needs ahead of everything. Staff were given enough time at care calls to carry out all support tasks and when necessary, stayed longer to help people. Staffing timetables enabled this to happen without impacting on later care calls. There were no reports of missed or late care calls.

People and their loved ones were given opportunities to provide feedback about the service. This achieved at various times during their support journey and in a variety of formats. The feedback received was overwhelmingly positive in all formats. The registered manager used feedback, analysis from auditing processes and data from complaints and accidents to share learning with staff and look for ways to improve the service further.

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 21 February 2022 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

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

Follow up

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