Eleos Care Limited

Updated 9 December 2021

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

One inspector and an Expert by Experience carried out the inspection. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

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

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

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

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. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We reviewed care records for three people to ensure they were reflective of their needs. We reviewed records relating to the management of the service such as the training matrix, recruitment files, compliments and complaints. We spoke with four people, seven people's relatives and three members of staff.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence we found. We looked at care plans and the provider’s quality assurance systems.

Updated 9 December 2021

About the service

Eleos Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care, home help and companionship to people with a variety of needs. At the time of our inspection visit 15 people were in receipt of personal care.

Not everyone using the service received personal care. The 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’s experience of using this service and what we found

Staff often provided extra support and assistance to people even though this was not part of people's contractual care arrangements. The care staff and management team worked together to deliver a high standard of care to people who used the service.

People were safeguarded against the risks of suffering abuse and avoidable harm. Risks associated with people's care were assessed, however, some of these assessments lacked crucial information. Nonetheless, we found no evidence that people had been harmed. We have made a recommendation about care planning and assessing a risk because some important information was not always available to guide staff.

Staff were recruited safely, and enough staff were employed to ensure people received all their care calls from familiar carers at the times agreed.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff provided care for them in the least restrictive way possible and acted in people’s best interests; the policies and systems in the service promoted this practice.

People's needs had been assessed before they started using the service. People and those closest to them were involved in planning and agreeing to people’s care.

People were encouraged to remain independent. People's care and support was provided in a dignified way by respectful staff.

The provider sought feedback from people, relatives and staff, and used this to enhance effectiveness of the service. People and staff were confident they could raise any concerns they might have with the registered manager and felt they would be listened to.

The registered manager and staff were responsive to and worked in partnership with other agencies to meet people's needs. We received positive feedback from people, their relatives and commissioners of the service about the quality of care provided.

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 10/06/2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information, we may inspect sooner.