Allfor Care Alpha Care Recruitment West and Home Care Service Limited

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

Responsive – this means we looked for evidence that the service met people’s needs.

At our last assessment we rated this key question requires improvement. At this assessment the rating has changed to good.

Good: This meant people’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery.

The provider was previously in breach of the legal regulation in relation to person centred care. Improvements were found at this assessment and the provider was no longer in breach of this regulation.

This service scored 71 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People’s care needs were identified in their care plan. The care plans identified the support people required with their health and wellbeing and how they wanted this care to be provided but some care plans were not up to date to reflect current support needs.

Care workers told us they understood the people’s support needs as they visited the same people regularly and they reviewed the person’s care plan and risk assessments. Their comments included, “I know what exact support I need to give to my clients as it is also mentioned in their care plan”, “There is care plan on my app I use” and “I know my client’s needs and how to properly support them.”

People and relatives stated they usually had the same care worker visit to provide care, but some people explained that, if 2 care workers were required to attend the visit they did not always know who the second care worker would be.

The registered manager explained they tried to ensure people were visited by the same care workers to promote consistency and enable the care worker and the person to get to know each other.

Information on people’s health and care needs were recorded. Relatives confirmed that they had initially discussed their family member’s care needs with the staff and some people had been involved in care plan reviews, but they did not have a copy of the care plan. Relatives and people told us, “Not aware in the house of a care plan. We did have a review, but there wasn’t any paperwork from the office afterwards” and “[I have] not seen an updated care plan, not been involved in a review since started. [I] Met supervisor once. [Family member] does not have an up-to-date care plan.”

The registered manager stated that documentation including care plans and activity schedules were produced in different formats to meet people’s communication needs. During the assessment the provider explained that these would in a paper version in people’s homes if required but examples were not provided.

The electronic records system enabled relatives to access people’s care plans and the records completed by the care workers following each visit. The registered manager explained that there was an issue with the electronic system which meant that relatives were not always able to access their family member’s records, but work was underway to improve access.

People and relatives were supported to provide feedback on the care they received.

The registered manager confirmed they carried out regular spot check visits to the person’s home to monitor the quality of the care and obtain feedback. There was also a survey sent to people who were receiving support to get their views on the care provided.

People and relatives explained they knew how to contact the office if they had any questions, and they had not experienced any issues with communication from the care provider. A relative confirmed they had raised a complaint in the past and it had been responded to in a timely manner.

People were supported to access activities they enjoyed. Relatives confirmed that, where identified, care workers supported their family member to access activities both inside their home and in the community. A relative said, “Yes, they take [family member] out into the community, [family member] will tell them where [family member] wants to go. today cinema. I provide the money, and they take them out.”

There was an out of hours contact service in case or emergencies or if a person needed to provide an urgent update in relation to their care.

The registered manager confirmed there was an equality, diversity and human rights policy for the service. Care workers completed training on equality and diversity. Care workers demonstrated an understanding of the importance of human rights.

People’s care plans identified their care, health and wellbeing support needs and people’s wishes in relation to their care, any professionals involved in their care and who was important to the person.

People’s care plans included information on the person’s religious and cultural preferences and background. This information supported the allocation of care workers with a similar background.

Care workers had completed training in relation to learning disabilities and autism and they felt it had helped them when supporting people. Their comments included, “The training has made me more aware how difficult it can be for some clients and there are different ways to deal with every situation”, “I am able to understand how to work with my client better and I understand her needs more” and “This helped me to understand my client better and to care for them accordingly.”

People were supported to plan for their future care needs. When supporting a person living with a learning disability/autism, the registered manager told us staff worked with the person’s family/representative, their social worker and the local authority to identify and set goals in relation to their future support needs and how these could be met.

The registered manager explained that during the initial assessment of a person’s needs they asked the person if they wanted to discuss their wishes if their support needs were to increase. Care plans indicated if the person or their relative wanted to discuss their wishes. A person told us, “Yes, I told the office that if I needed more care, I would contact them and the local authority”. At the time of the assessment the provider was not supporting anyone with end-of-life care.