Access 24/7 Limited provides personal care and support to people who require assistance in their own home. This service is a domiciliary care agency. At the time of our assessment 20 people were being supported by the service. 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. The service is also registered to support people with a learning disability and autistic people. We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people; and providers must have regard to it. We carried out our on-site responsive assessment on 29 May 2025, offsite activity started on 22 May 2025 and ended on 3 May 2025. The assessment was completed to follow up on the last assessment to see if improvements had been made. We found the service had made improvements and are no longer in breach of regulations in fit and proper persons employed and good governance. The registered manager now had systems in place to monitor the service, which provided good oversight to monitor and improve outcomes for people. This assessment was announced.
PDF cached but not yet analysed by Claude; set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY and re-run npm run etl:reports -- --location 1-10153953405.
An assessment has been undertaken of a specialist service that is used by autistic people or people with a learning disability. We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people; and providers must have regard to it. Access 24/7 Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing the regulated activity of personal and nursing care to people in their own homes. At the time of our assessment 25 people were being supported by the service. 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. We carried out our on-site responsive assessment on 20 February 2025, offsite activity started on 17 February 2025 and ended on 25 February 2025. The assessment was completed to follow up on the last assessment to see if improvements had been made. The provider was previously in breach of the legal regulation in relation to safeguarding, safe care and treatment and staffing. Improvements were found at this assessment and the provider was no longer in breach of these regulations. However, the provider is still in breach of the legal regulation in relation to fit and proper persons employed and good governance. Improvements were not found at this assessment, and the provider remained in breach of this regulation. This assessment was announced.
PDF cached but not yet analysed by Claude; set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY and re-run npm run etl:reports -- --location 1-10153953405.
Access 24/7 Healthcare Ltd was rated Requires Improvement overall following a focused inspection in August–September 2023, with Safe rated Inadequate due to regulatory breaches across safeguarding, medicines management, recruitment, and staff training. Governance and record-keeping were ineffective, preventing leadership from identifying or remedying systemic failings before inspection.
Concerns (9)
criticalMedication management: “Not all MAR provided assurance people received their medicines in line with the prescriber's instructions. PRN medicine protocols were not completed for all 'when required' medicines.”
criticalSafeguarding: “Robust processes and procedures were not in place to protect people from avoidable harm and abuse. Actions taken to robustly investigate these required improvement.”
criticalStaff competency: “An assessment of competence relating to specific topics had not been considered or completed for all staff. For example, bathing practices, tracheostomy, catheter, and stoma care.”
criticalStaff training: “The provider did not ensure all staff employed at the service had received specific training relating to people who were autistic or who had a learning disability.”
criticalGovernance: “The quality assurance and governance arrangements in place were not effective in identifying shortfalls in the service. The provider had not identified these failings.”
moderateSupervision / appraisal: “Supervisions were not undertaken at regular intervals in line with the provider's expectations. Suitable arrangements were not in place to ensure all newly employed staff had received a robust induction.”
moderateRecord keeping: “Record keeping arrangements at the service were ineffective. Accessing information during the inspection proved very difficult. Staff were unable to find and share requested documents in a timely manner.”
moderateIncident learning: “Reporting of incidents, issues and concerns were inconsistent. Statutory notifications to the Care Quality Commission were delayed and not forwarded to us in a timely manner.”
moderateLeadership: “Their lack of oversight and effective monitoring meant they could not be assured specific tasks delegated to others were happening in line with regulatory requirements.”
Strengths
· Relatives confirmed they had not experienced any missed calls; staff were described as reliable and always staying the full allocated time.
· People were primarily supported by a core group of staff ensuring continuity of care.
· Staff had up-to-date safeguarding training and could describe types of abuse and actions to take.
· Risks to people were identified, assessed, and recorded; staff demonstrated understanding of individual risk management.
· People were protected from infection risk; adequate PPE was supplied and staff received IPC and food hygiene training.
Quality-Statement breakdown (14)
safe: Using medicines safelyInadequate
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from abuse; learning lessons when things go wrongInadequate
safe: Staffing and recruitmentInadequate
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and managementGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
effective: Staff support: induction, training, skills and experienceRequires improvement
effective: Assessing people's needs and choices; delivering care in line with standards, guidance and the lawGood
effective: Supporting people to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced diet
Access 24/7 Healthcare Ltd received a Good rating across all five key questions at its first CQC inspection in July 2022, demonstrating safe, personalised care for 23 adults and children with complex needs. No failures or breaches were identified, with particular strengths in staffing continuity, clinical skill mix, detailed care planning and responsive leadership.
Strengths
· Relatives consistently described staff as kind, caring and trustworthy, with strong person-centred relationships built over time.
· Comprehensive and personalised care plans tailored to complex needs, including emergency plans for equipment failures.
· Robust recruitment procedures including DBS checks and references, with no use of agency staff.
· Medicines managed safely with trained staff, competency assessments, and regular MAR audits.
· Skilled mix of registered nurses and support workers enabling prompt clinical escalation.
Quality-Statement breakdown (24)
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and managementGood
safe: Staffing and recruitmentGood
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
safe: Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
effective: Assessing people's needs and choices; delivering care in line with standards, guidance and the lawGood
effective: Staff support: induction, training, skills and experienceGood
Good
effective: Staff working with other agencies; supporting people to live healthier lives and access healthcareGood
effective: Ensuring consent to care and treatment in line with law and guidanceGood
well-led: Promoting a positive culture; duty of candour; continuous learning and improving careRequires improvement
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles; understanding quality, performance, risks and regulatory requirementsRequires improvement
well-led: Engaging and involving people, the public and staff; considering equality characteristicsGood
well-led: Working in partnership with othersGood
effective: Supporting people to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced dietGood
effective: Staff working with other agencies to provide consistent, effective, timely careGood
effective: Ensuring consent to care and treatment in line with law and guidanceGood
caring: Ensuring people are well treated and supported; respecting equality and diversityGood
caring: Supporting people to express their views and be involved in making decisions about their careGood
caring: Respecting and promoting people's privacy, dignity and independenceGood
responsive: Planning personalised care to ensure people have choice and control and to meet their needs and preferencesGood
responsive: Meeting people's communication needsGood
responsive: Supporting people to develop and maintain relationships to avoid social isolationGood
responsive: Improving care quality in response to complaints and concernsGood
responsive: End of life care and supportGood
well-led: Promoting a positive culture that is person-centred, open, inclusive and empoweringGood
well-led: How the provider understands and acts on the duty of candourGood
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles, and understanding quality performance, risks and regulatory requirementsGood
well-led: Engaging and involving people using the service, the public and staffGood