About the service: Apollo Home Healthcare Limited, West Midlands Office is a domiciliary care service registered to provide care to people with complex needs of all ages living in their own homes. The service provided personal care to 23 adults and 18 children at the time of our inspection.

People’s experience of using this service: People and relatives told us staff were kind and caring in their approach. People told us staff had the expertise to provide effective care.

Care plans were person-centred and provided staff with the information they needed to provide care and support in a way that met people’s needs and preferences.

Staff knew how to protect vulnerable people and had safeguarding policies and procedures to guide them, which included the contact details of the local authority to report to.

There was a medicines policy and guidance for staff around safe administration. Staff had undertaken medicines training and competency checks were regularly undertaken. Medicines were administered as prescribed.

Staff assessed risks to people’s health, safety and wellbeing and put plans in place to manage these risks.

People told us they would feel confident to raise any complaints they might have. We saw complaints were identified, investigated and used to improve the service.

Most of the feedback we received about Apollo Home Healthcare was very positive and the service was delivering high quality care to many people using the service.

People/relatives told us that they were disappointed that calls had sometimes been cancelled at short notice due to staff sickness. The service had an individualised agreement with families to plan for cancelled calls.

We have recommended that Apollo Home Healthcare Limited, West Midlands Office review staff sickness contingency planning to improve consistency of care for people using the service.

There were processes in place to monitor the safety and quality of the service.

The service had a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection.

The management team demonstrated a good understanding of all aspects of managing the service such as safeguarding procedures and medicines management.

People, relatives and staff were engaged by the service via surveys so that everyone could contribute to the development of the service. There was a credible strategy in place with plans for multiple new improvements and updates at the service. This was being implemented by the management team who were proactive in considering how the service could be improved.

Most people, staff and relatives spoke positively about the registered manager and management team.

The service met the characteristics of Good in all areas.

More information is in the full report.

Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection the service was rated as Good (15 July 2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection to check that this service remained Good.

Follow up: Going forward we will continue to monitor this service and plan to inspect in line with our reinspection schedule for services rated Good.

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

We inspected this service on 29 and 30 June 2016. This service provides care in people’s homes to both adults and children. At the time of the inspection nine people were being supported by the service. This was the first inspection of the service.

The service had a registered manager in post. 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.

People were safe. When risks to people were identified action was taken to reduce these risks and staff were aware of what they needed to do. Staff understood safeguarding and knew how to recognise and report any potential concerns. There were procedures in place to ensure medicines were administered in a safe way. The provider ensured that the equipment in people’s homes was safe to use.

There were enough staff available and they received an induction and training that enabled them to support people. Staff also completed work based competency’s to ensure they were safe administering and completing procedures. The provider completed checks on staff to ensure they were suitable to work in people’s homes.

Where people were supported with meals, staff offered support with eating and drinking and maintaining a healthy diet. They also supported people to access other health professionals when needed. Staff understood the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and gained consent from people before delivering care.

People and relatives liked the teams of staff that supported them and felt the service was well managed. They were also involved with reviewing their care. People’s privacy and dignity was promoted. People were encouraged to make choices and remain independent. People knew how to complain and the provider had a system in place to manage this.

Quality checks were completed to bring about improvements. The provider sought the opinions of people and relatives to make changes. Staff felt supported and listened to and were confident any concerns they raised would be acted on. The registered manager understood the responsibilities of registration with us and notified us of significant events.