Archived: Altus at Home Support

Updated 27 April 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 24 February 2016 and was announced. This was the first inspection of the service since it was first registered in April 2014. This was a comprehensive inspection which was carried out by one inspector. We gave the registered manager 48 hours' notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to make sure someone would be available in the office.

Prior to the inspection the registered manager had not completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This was because they had received a request to complete it shortly before the inspection visit. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. However, they did inform us that this would be forthcoming. We looked at all the information we had collected about the service. This included notifications the registered manager had sent us. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to tell us about by law.

As part of the inspection we contacted some community professionals and received two responses. During the inspection we spoke with three people using the service and three care workers. We also spoke with the registered manager, the nominated individual and the administrator.

We looked at six people's care plans and daily records. We also looked at the recruitment files for the five care staff and staff training records. We saw a number of documents relating to the management of the service. For example, team meeting minutes, the employee handbook, some policies and procedures, quality audits and complaints records.

Updated 27 April 2016

This inspection took place on the 24 February 2016 and was announced.

Altus at Home Support is a small domiciliary care agency. Care and support is provided to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting 12 people who had a range of needs mostly associated with older age.

The service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the service is run. The registered manager was working towards professional management qualifications.

People told us that they felt safe with staff and would be confident to raise any concerns they had. The provider’s recruitment procedures had not always been robust. Medicines were managed safely. There were sufficient staff to provide safe, effective care at the times agreed by the people who were using the service.

There were procedures in place to manage risks to people and staff. Staff were aware of how to deal with emergency situations and knew how to keep people safe by reporting concerns promptly through processes that they understood.

Staff received an induction and spent time working with experienced members of staff before working alone with people. Staff were supported to receive the training and development they needed to care for and support people’s individual needs.

People were complementary of the services provided. The comments we received from people demonstrated that they felt valued and listened to. People were treated with kindness and respect whilst their independence was promoted within their homes.

People’s needs were reviewed regularly and their care and support plans promoted person-centred care. Up to date information was communicated to staff daily to ensure they could provide the appropriate care and support for each individual. Staff knew how to contact healthcare professionals in a timely manner if there were concerns about a person’s wellbeing.

The provider had a system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received.