Updated 1 June 2019
The inspection:
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team: The inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type: Alina homecare Hemel Hempstead is a domiciliary care service. It provides personal care and support to people who live in their own homes in the community. They are registered to provide a regulated activity of personal care. At the time of our inspection 83 people were being supported by the service.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection: We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection to ensure the registered manager, or other senior staff were available to support the inspection.
Inspection site visit activity started on 15 May 2019 and ended on 20 May 2019. We visited the office location on15 May 2019 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures . We collected feedback about the service from people, staff and professionals on 15 and 20 May 2019.
What we did:
Before the inspection we reviewed information, we held about the service including statutory notifications. Statutory notifications include information about important events which the provider is required to send us. We received feedback from the local authority, including a copy of their most recent inspection report. We also reviewed the provider information return (PIR) which we received prior to the commencement of the inspection. This is information that the provider is required to send to us, which gives us some key information about the service and tells us what the service does well and any improvements they plan to make.
During the inspection we spoke with seven people who used the service, five members of care staff, the registered manager, the operations manager and the quality and compliance manager. We also contacted relatives and professional for feedback about their experience of the service. We looked at a range of records relating to the overall management of the service. This included three recruitment records, three care plans, risk management arrangements and quality assurance records.