Archived: Allied Healthcare Colchester

Updated 10 August 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check 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.

The inspection was an announced inspection and took place on the 16 June 2016.

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an Expert by Experience (ExE) who assisted to make phone calls to people who used the service. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. On the day of our inspection, Allied Healthcare Colchester was providing support to 116 people.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included notifications, which are documents submitted to us to advise of events that have happened in the service and the provider is required to tell us about. We used this information to plan what we were going to focus on during our inspection. Before the inspection the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed the Provider Information Record (PIR) before the inspection. This enabled us to ensure we were addressing any potential areas of concern.

During our inspection we spoke with the registered manager the compliance co-ordinator and two field care supervisors. As part of the inspection we spoke with sixteen people who used the service and three relatives. We also spoke with an additional four care staff to gain their views about working for the service.

We also reviewed ten people’s care records. This included their care plans and risk assessments. We also looked at the files of six staff members and their induction and staff support records. We reviewed the service’s policies, their audits, staff work sheets, complaint and compliment records, medication records and training and supervision records.

Updated 10 August 2016

Allied Healthcare Colchester is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care to a range of people living in people their own homes. These included people living with dementia, older people, people with a physical disability or learning disability, and people who have an eating disorder, or misuse drugs and alcohol. At the time our visit the service supported 116 people.

The service has 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.

The provider was given 48 hours’ notice of our visit. This was to ensure documentation and people were accessible on the day of our inspection.

People were complimentary about the service they received from Allied Healthcare. People’s needs were assessed and appropriate information was given to people before the service commenced.

Staff had good knowledge of safeguarding procedures and were clear about the actions they would take to help protect people. Where safeguarding concerns had been identified the service had made the appropriate referrals and was open and transparent. Risk assessments had been completed to help staff to support people with everyday risks and help to keep them safe.

Systems were in place to assist people with the management of their medication and to help ensure people received their medication as prescribed. Recruitment checks had been carried out before staff started work to ensure that they were suitable to work in a care setting. Staff told us that they felt well supported to carry out their work and had received regular support and training.

There were sufficient numbers of staff, with the right competencies, skills and experience available to help meet the needs of the people who used the service.

Where needed people were supported to eat and drink sufficient amounts to help meet their nutritional needs and staff knew who to speak with if they had any concerns around people’s nutrition. People were supported by staff to maintain good healthcare and were assisted to gain access to healthcare providers where possible.

People had agreed to their care and been asked how they would like this provided. People said they had been treated with dignity and respect and that staff provided their care in a kind and caring manner.

The registered manager had a good understanding of Mental Capacity Act 2005 and who to approach if they had any concerns and the appropriate government body if people were not able to make decisions for themselves.

People knew who to raise complaints or concerns to. The service had a clear complaints procedure in place and people had been provided with this information as part of the assessment process. This included information on the process and also any timespan for response. We saw that complaints had been appropriately investigated and recorded.

The service had an effective quality assurance system and had regular contact with people who used the service. People felt listened to and that their views and opinions had been sought. The quality assurance system was effective and improvements had been made as a result of learning from people’s views and opinions.