26 May 2016
During a routine inspection
The service was last inspected in March 2014 when we found the provider was compliant with the essential standards described in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010.
Excite Care is a domiciliary care agency providing care for people in their own homes. Most people who used the service received support through several visits each day. On the day of our inspection the agency was providing support to 63 people with 29 members of care staff.
The service had a registered manager. 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. We refer to the registered manager as the manager in the body of this report.
People felt safe using the service and there were processes to minimise risks to people’s safety. These included procedures to manage identified risks with people’s care and for managing people’s medicines safely. Care staff understood how to protect people from abuse and keep people safe. The character and suitability of care staff was checked during recruitment procedures to make sure, as far as possible, they were safe to work with people who used the service.
There were enough care staff to deliver the care and support people required. Most people said care staff arrived around the time expected and stayed long enough to complete the care people required. People told us care staff were caring, kind and knew how people liked to receive their care.
Care staff received an induction when they started working for the service and completed regular training to support them in meeting people’s needs effectively. People told us care staff had the right skills to provide the care and support they required. Support plans and risk assessments contained relevant information for staff to help them provide the care people needed in a way they preferred.
Staff were supported by managers through regular meetings. There was an out of hours’ on call system in operation, which ensured management support and advice was always available for staff during their working hours. The manager understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA), care staff respected people’s decisions and gained people’s consent before they provided personal care.
Staff, people and their relatives felt the manager was approachable. People knew how to complain and information about making a complaint was available for people. Care staff said they could raise any concerns or issues with the managers. Communication was encouraged and identified concerns were acted upon by the manager and provider. The provider monitored complaints and made changes to the service in response to complaints.
There were systems to monitor and review the quality of service people received and to understand the experiences of people who used the service. This was through regular communication with people and staff, spot checks on care staff and a programme of other checks and audits. Where issues had been identified, the provider acted to make improvements.