About the service:

Nexus Care Services is a small, local area domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. In addition to providing support with personal care, the agency also provided assistance with shopping, gardening, housework or transport including help to attend appointments at the doctors or hospital. At the time of the inspection the service supported 25 people with their personal care.

People’s experience of using this service:

• The provider’s governance systems to check the quality of the service provided for people were not consistently effective and required some improvement.

• People and relatives told us they felt the service was safe and there were sufficient numbers of staff that were safely recruited to support people. Staff had completed their induction training that included safeguarding, medication, health and safety and moving and handling. Staff had access to equipment and clothing that protected people from cross infection.

• People were protected from potential risk of harm; risk assessments were in place and staff knew how to support people’s individual needs to ensure they provided a consistent level of care. People’s care and support needs were assessed.

• Staff received ongoing training they required to meet people’s needs. People accessed healthcare services to ensure they received ongoing healthcare support. People, as much as practicably possible, had choice and control of their lives and staff were aware of how to support them in the least restrictive way.

• People were supported by kind and caring staff that knew them well. Staff encouraged people’s independence, protected their privacy and treated them with dignity.

• People were supported by staff who knew their preferences. Complaints made since the service started had been investigated and resolved. People and their families knew who to contact if they had any complaints.

• People and their relatives’ views were sought about the quality of the care being provided. Staff felt supported by the management team.

• People, their relatives and staff were happy with the way the service was managed and the provider worked well with partner organisations to ensure people’s needs were met.

• The service did not meet some of the characteristics of Good in one area and more information is in the detailed findings below.

Rating at last inspection:

This was the service’s first inspection since their registration on 24 October 2017.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection. The site visit took place on the 06 March 2019 and telephone calls were made to people using the service on the 07 March 2019.

Follow up:

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

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