Background to this inspection
Updated
15 May 2018
We carried out this comprehensive inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Prior to our inspection visit we contacted the commissioning departments at Lancashire County Council. This helped us to gain a balanced overview of what people experienced accessing the service.
We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.
Before the inspection visit, as part of our planning, we reviewed all the information we held about the service, including data about safeguarding and statutory notifications. Statutory notifications are required to be submitted by the provider to the Care Quality Commission to advise of important events.
This inspection visit took place on 10 April 2018 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provided a domiciliary care service to people who lived in the community. We needed to be sure that we could access the office premises.
The inspection team consisted of an adult social care inspector and an expert by experience. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
During our inspection we spoke with 14 people supported by the agency and six relatives who were their carers. In addition we visited a home of a person who received a service. We also went to Allied Healthcare offices in Lancaster and spoke with the registered manager and area manager. In addition we spoke with two care coordinators and seven care staff who supported people in their own home. We looked at the care records of three people, recruitment records of two staff members, the training matrix and records relating to the management of the service.
Updated
15 May 2018
This inspection visit took place on 10 April 2018 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the service delivered domiciliary care to people who lived in their own homes. We needed to be sure staff in the office and people the service supported would be available to speak to us.
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. At the time of our inspection there were 95 people receiving a service from the agency.
There was a registered manager in place. 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.
At the last inspection on 26 January 2016 the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service had not changed since our last inspection.
People we spoke with told us staff who supported them were kind, patient and respectful. One person we visited who received a service said, “Lovely people all of them. They are so kind and have to be patient with me. I am on my own so feel safe knowing someone is helping me.”
The registered manager had systems in place to record safeguarding concerns, accidents and incidents and take necessary action as required. Staff had received safeguarding training and understood their responsibilities to report any incidents of alleged abuse.
Risk assessments had been developed to minimise the potential risk of harm to people during the delivery of their care and staff visiting people’s homes. These had been kept under review and updated when changes occurred to the person or environment.
Staff had been recruited safely, appropriately trained and supported. They had skills, knowledge and experience required to support people in their own homes. The management team deployed sufficient staffing levels to provide support people required in their own homes.
Staff responsible for assisting people with their medicines had received training to ensure they had the competency and skills required. People told us they received their medicines at the times they needed them.
Care plans were organised and had identified the care and support people required. We found they were personalised and informative about care people received. They had been kept under review and updated when necessary. They reflected any risks and people’s changing needs.
Staff had received food and hygiene training to ensure they were confident when preparing meals in people’s homes.
We found by talking with people saw there was an emphasis on promoting dignity, respect and independence for people supported by Allied Healthcare. They told us they were treated as individuals and received person centred care.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.
People who used the service and their relatives knew how to raise a complaint and who to speak with. The management team had kept a record of complaints received and these had been responded to in a timely manner
The management team used a variety of methods to assess and monitor the quality of the service they provided. For example they included regular staff meetings, spot checks in people’s homes, management team visits and phone calls to people and satisfaction surveys. The registered manager told us they continually strived to improve services for people by monitoring the quality of service provision and making improvements.
Further information is in the detailed findings below.