30 October 2023
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Alpha-Imperial Private Ltd is a domiciliary care agency, providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of inspection, 26 people were using 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.
People's experience of using this service and what we found.
At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or autistic people. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.
The provider and registered manager had addressed concerns we previously identified at the last inspection. Safe recruitment practices were in place to ensure only suitable staff worked at the service. Systems and processes had been put into place to improve the oversight at the service.
People and their relatives were very satisfied with the personal care staff provided. They said they were treated with respect and dignity and staff had a very caring and friendly approach to them. They said they had very good relationships with staff. Staff respected people's privacy and encouraged them to maintain their independence and do as much for themselves as they wanted to.
Details of how to reduce risks to people's safety were included in people's care plans. Care plans reflected people’s individual needs. Enough staff were employed to meet people's needs. People and relatives said safe care was provided, with people protected against abuse, neglect and discrimination.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
People and relatives were aware of how to approach the provider to raise concerns or complaints. The registered manager understood their responsibilities and worked in an open and transparent way.
However, we found staff did not always attend calls on time to provide people with the personal care they needed. The registered manager acted on this finding promptly to ensure this was not repeated.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on length of time since last inspection. This inspection was planned based on the information we held on the service.
The overall rating for the service has improved to good based on the findings of this inspection.
Rating at last inspection
This is the 3rd inspection for the service. The last inspection was in November 2019 when the service was rated requires improvement.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.