Alina Homecare Horsham

Updated 5 February 2025

Date of assessment: 12 February to 17 March 2025. Alina Homecare Horsham is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our assessment 13 people were receiving the regulated activity of personal care. This assessment has been undertaken of a specialist service registered for use by autistic people or people with a learning disability. At the time of the assessment, the service was not used by anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

Staff monitored people’s health needs and quickly sought medical advice in response to any changes. Staff generally understood and managed risk but records did not always provide enough detail. Staff followed professional advice, monitored outcomes and provided feedback to professionals when needed

People were very well supported by a caring and compassionate staff team who received appropriate training and regular supervision. The provider placed a strong emphasis on staff wellbeing and made sure their successes were celebrated which motivated the team to provide exceptional care for people.

People’s medicines were administered and managed safely. Staff protected people from the risk of harm or abuse and knew how and with whom to raise concerns.

Staff provided person-centred care and knew who and what was important to the people they supported.

The service benefitted from an experienced registered manager who created an open and inclusive culture for people, their family members and staff. They sought people’s feedback and learned from their peers and the wider organisation to continually improve people’s experience. Ongoing quality assurance systems fed into service development plans to benchmark and continually improve the service.

Updated 5 February 2025

People and their family members told us they were very happy with the service and gave us positive feedback about the staff. People said they received high quality care from knowledgeable staff who treated them as individuals. Their comments included, “I spoke to the [registered manager] at Alina and from that moment on it was like an angel had been sent to us, they have gone out of their way to find the right [staff].” And, “They are brilliant, they are so accommodating, they have a chat and they are lovely.”

People and family members consistently told us they felt staff were well trained and supported them in accordance with their wishes. One person told us, “I’m quite confident they know what they are doing. If there is a new helper, there is always an experienced one with them.” And a family member told us, “They seem very well trained to me. I would say from reading the notes I can see what they have been trained with, they are alert to [family members] safety. They are well trained with people who have dementia, moving conversation on.”

People’s needs were reviewed regularly and when there were changes. People’s views about their care were at the heart of everything staff did to support them, they were involved with planning and reviewing their care and their voices were heard. A person told us, “Somebody came recently and asked me various questions, this was a review”.

People and family members told us staff treated them as individuals and got to know them well. A family member told us, “All of them are really kind, a couple go a long way, sitting down talking to [family member], looking at photos and with their permission they give them a little hug.”

Staff swiftly contacted family members and medical professionals when they noticed changes in people’s health. A family member said, “They are very astute, one of them spotted my [family member] had started shingles, the doctor came."