24 February 2016
During a routine inspection
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.