Alston Lodge Community Care Limited

Updated 26 October 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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of two inspectors and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who has used this type of service.

Service and service type

Alston Lodge Community Care Services Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

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 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to make sure, that the appropriate people would be available to speak with us and consent obtained for visits and telephone contact.

Inspection activity started on 17 September 2019 and ended on 18 September 2019. We visited the office location on 17 September 2019.

What we did before the inspection

Our planning considered information we held about the service. This included information about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as safeguarding. We looked at issues raised in complaints and how the service had responded to them.

We also checked the information 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. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We visited two people, with their consent, who used the service in their home. We spoke with 14 people by telephone who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four members of care staff, the registered manager, who was present throughout the inspection and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed care records and records relevant to the running and quality monitoring of the service. We looked at seven care records in detail and a selection of records including, medication administration, quality monitoring records, complaints and the training and recruitment records for staff.

Updated 26 October 2019

About the service

Alston Lodge Community Care Limited provides personal care to people over the age of 18 years old within their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service was providing support with personal care to 39 people.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. 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

People told us they felt they received care in a safe, caring way from staff who knew them well, respected their privacy and dignity and supported them to remain independent. People told us, “I always feel safe when the carer comes, no concerns on that” and “Am I safe? Oh yes, no one is ever rude or harsh.”

The provider had safeguarding systems to protect people and staff were aware of what to do and had received training on it. There were effective systems for assessing and managing risk, including when giving medicines, to help make sure people and staff were kept safe from foreseeable risks. There was a thorough recruitment process and sufficient numbers of skilled staff working with people and they received training, supervision and support so they could care for people effectively. People told us staff were reliable and acted quickly to get professional help if they needed it or if they were feeling unwell.

The registered provider had procedures in place for assessing a person's mental capacity in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. 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. The staff provided the support people needed to enjoy their meals and drinks and to eat and drink enough to maintain good health.

People's social needs were considered as part of the overall service and staff assessed and regularly reviewed people's physical and mental health and any social needs. They had updated care plans when changes happened. Care plans had been developed with the involvement of the person, and where appropriate, their families and representatives. The care team had a good working relationship with other agencies, the local GPs, the nurse practitioner and the community nursing service. Care staff worked under their guidance and instruction to care for people living at home and at the end of their lives.

People and their relatives were aware of how to raise concerns or complaints and there were systems for their management. The service had systems to assess quality and people told us they were asked for their views about the support they received. The nominated individual and registered manager demonstrated daily involvement in the service. They understood their duty of candour and the requirement to notify us of any significant incidents at the service.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 2 October 2018 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the date of registration.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.