Almond Tree Care Ltd

Updated 10 June 2025

Date of assessment: 18 June to 30 June 2025. Almond Tree Care Ltd is a care at home service providing support to older people, younger adults, and people living with dementia, a sensory impairment and/or a physical disability. There were 51 people receiving the regulated activity of personal care at the time of the inspection.

At our previous inspection completed in August 2022, the provider was found to be in breach of the legal regulations in relation to safe care and treatment, consent and governance. Improvements were found at this inspection in relation to safe care and treatment and consent and the provider was no longer in breach of these regulations. However, improvements in relation to governance were not found at this inspection and the provider remains in breach of this legal regulation. An additional breach of legal regulation was found in relation to displaying the CQC rating on the provider’s website.

Whilst the care delivery was good and care staff supported people in a compassionate, kind and person-centred manner, the culture within the serve was poor which had impacted on staff wellbeing. Staff told us they did not feel valued or supported and were overworked; they told us they were treated with a lack of respect and compassion. Staff told us they were fearful of raising concerns due to repercussions. A poor working environment had been found at our previous inspection completed in August 2022 and the provider had failed to rectify this meaning the negative culture remained at this inspection.

However, the people who used the service, their relatives and health and social care professionals told us the service, at the point of delivery, was consistently good. People told us they were supported by staff who were invested in them, conscientious and kind. They told us their needs were met in a person-centred manner and the records we viewed confirmed this. We found that improvements had been made in relation to risk management and consent and that people’s needs had been reviewed to ensure the service was meeting them.

We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this inspection.

Updated 10 June 2025

People told us they received respectful care from staff who were caring, thoughtful and dedicated. They told us staff worked hard to meet their needs in an individualised manner. One relative whose family member used the service said, “We are really pleased with the service.” The provider had assessed people’s needs at the commencement of the service and people told us they felt involved in this. Continued monitoring was in place and people told us their needs were reviewed on a regular basis. People told us they felt safe receiving the service and that they had confidence in the staff’s abilities. Staff followed good infection prevention and control procedures and were aware of how to protect people from the risk of harm.

However, whilst people told us they received a good level of service at the point of delivery, our inspection found elements of care did not meet the expected standards, particularly in relation to staff support, culture and governance. Evidence showed that staff worked in a negative working environment and whilst this had not impacted on the care people received, staff told us it negatively impacted on their health and wellbeing and had resulted in a high turnover of staff. They told us they felt tired and jaded and received little thanks for the work they completed. One staff member said, “The carers are delightful, team leaders are all brilliant if I need any support and the office staff are great. However, I feel everyone is massively overworked and are just numbers. Staff are expected to do extra tasks and not asked in a nice way. Things are simply expected from staff.”