Apollo Home Healthcare Limited - North Office was rated Good overall at its first inspection, with strong care delivery, staff training, and personalised support, but Requires Improvement for well-led due to persistent staffing gaps leaving some care packages unfulfilled and poor communication with families about staff allocations.
Concerns (5)
moderate
Staffing levels
: “My relatives cover the care shift when no one is available, this happens about once a month.”
moderateCommunication with families: “Communication from the office is terrible, we are given a rota on a Friday, if we had this sooner, we could plan things.”
moderateGovernance: “This was recognised as a concern during stakeholder feedback in February 2023 and remained a concern at the time of this inspection.”
minorComplaints handling: “I sent an email and did not get a reply.”
minorLeadership: “Most staff told us they had not been provided with opportunities to attend regular staff meetings.”
Strengths
· Medicines were safely managed with accurate records, trained staff, and competency assessments reviewed annually.
· Staff were well-trained in clinical skills including tracheostomy care, with thorough induction and regular supervisions.
· People and relatives were positive about staff kindness, dignity, and respect; strong therapeutic relationships noted.
· Care plans were personalised and contained detailed communication, preference, and support need information.
· Staff worked effectively with external professionals including dieticians, physiotherapists, and specialist nurses.
Quality-Statement breakdown (19)
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and management; Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Staffing and recruitmentRequires improvement
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
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
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 diversity; privacy, dignity and independenceGood
caring: Supporting people to express their views and be involved in making decisions about their careGood
responsive: Improving care quality in response to complaints or concernsGood
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; support to follow interests and activitiesGood
well-led: Promoting a positive culture; engaging and involving people, the public and staffRequires improvement
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles; understanding quality performance, risks and regulatory requirementsGood
well-led: Continuous learning and improving care; working in partnership with othersGood