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Caremax Homecare Services Limited

Overall: Requires improvement read more about inspection ratings

Jubilee House, The Drive, Great Warley, Brentwood, Essex, CM13 3FR (01277) 562162

Provided and run by:
Caremax Homecare Services Limited

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of assessment 29 April to 10 May 2024 Caremax Homecare Services Limited is a domiciliary care service providing a regulated activity of personal care. The service was providing care and support to people in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care; tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection there were 164 people receiving personal care from the service. We carried out this assessment after receiving concerns about staffing and staff training. We found 3 breaches of the legal regulations in relation to safe and effective staffing, risk and governance. There were not always enough suitably skilled staff to support people, calls did not always take place at the time people wanted and for some, they were often shorter than commissioned. Staff had not received all the training needed to meet people’s needs, and the registered provider could not demonstrate the quality and safety of the induction and ongoing training linked to people's needs. Staff were completing tasks without appropriate training and senior staff delivering practical training were not qualified to do so. This included checking staff competencies and delivering training for medication. Staff recruitment required improvement. Policies and systems were in place to help ensure people were protected from the risk of abuse. The provider’s oversight of call monitoring, staff training and risk was not robust. We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.

15 January 2020

During a routine inspection

About the service: Caremax Homecare Services Limited provides personal care and support to people who require assistance in their own home.

People’s experience of using this service: People were very complimentary of the staff and the service they received. A relative told us, “They are a brilliant service, I would recommend them to anyone.”

Care and treatment was planned and delivered in a way that was intended to ensure people's safety and welfare. People were cared for and supported by staff who had received the appropriate training. Staff were employed following the appropriate recruitment checks. There were systems in place to minimise the risk of infection and to learn lessons from accidents and incidents. There were safe medication procedures for staff to follow.

Staff had a good understanding of people’s preferences of care, staff promoted people’s independence.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

People were supported to eat and drink enough to ensure they maintained a balanced diet. People and their relatives were involved in the planning and review of their care. The registered manager had policies in place to respond to complaints. Support could be provided to people at the end of their life.

The provider had systems in place to monitor and provide good care and these were reviewed on a regular basis.

Rating at last inspection: The last rating for this service was Good. (last report published 22 April 2017).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor information and intelligence we receive about the service to ensure good quality is provided to people.

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

7 March 2017

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced inspection on 7 March 2017. Caremax Home Care Services Ltd is a domiciliary care service and is registered to provide personal care to people in their own homes. On the day of our inspection, there were 35 people using the service and 28 staff supporting them.

There was a registered manager in place. 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 appropriate systems in place to protect people from harm and uphold their rights. Staff had the knowledge, understanding and up to date training in safeguarding adults from abuse and supporting people with limited capacity to make their own decisions.

People’s medicines were given to them safely and in a timely way and risks to people’s health and wellbeing were appropriately assessed, managed and reviewed.

There were sufficient numbers of staff available to meet people’s needs. A recruitment process was in place to protect people and staff had been employed safely with the right skills and knowledge to provide care and support to people.

People were assisted with the preparation of meals of their choosing which met their nutritional needs. They were treated with kindness and respect by staff and their dignity was maintained. Staff understood people’s needs and provided care and support accordingly. Caring relationships had been developed and people were fully involved in their care arrangements.

Quality assurance arrangements were in place and record keeping was comprehensive and robust. There was a system for responding to complaints and concerns. The visible leadership of the service showed that person centred care was being delivered to people who used the service.