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Archived: Alban Care Company

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

17 The Berries, Sandridge, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL4 9NL (01727) 757465

Provided and run by:
Alban Care Company Ltd

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 19 August 2017

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 was 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 was carried out on 8 and 9 August 2017. We visited the office location, on the 8 August 2017, and made phone calls to people who used the service and staff to obtain feedback of their experiences of the service on the 9 August 2017. The inspection was carried out by one inspector. We gave the provider 48 hours' notice that we would be visiting the office to make sure that the appropriate people would be there to assist us with our inspection.

Before the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service including statutory notifications. Statutory notifications include information about important events which the provider is required to send us.

We talked to five people who used the service and two staff members and the registered manager and nominated individual who were both directors.

We looked at documents relating to two people who were being supported and other documents in relation to the safe recruitment of staff and quality assurance systems the provider had in place to monitor the overall safety and quality of the service.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 19 August 2017

The inspection of the office location took place on 8 August 2017. We contacted people on 9 August 2017 to request feedback about the service they received. Alban Care Co Limited provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. There were nine people being supported by the service at the time of our inspection.

The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

This was the first inspection since the service was registered on 8 October 2015. People told us they received care and support that met their individual needs and preferences. People were involved in the development, planning and review of their care and received a service from a small consistent group of care staff. Staff knew people well and treated them with dignity and respect.

Care plans were personalised and contained detailed information to enable staff to support people effectively and safely. Individual risks were assessed and measures put in place to reduce and mitigate risk where possible. Staff knew how to recognise and respond to any allegations of abuse. Medicines were managed safely by staff who had been trained.

People were supported by sufficient numbers of staff and these were recruited through a robust process which helped ensure staff were suited for the roles they performed. Staff received an induction and on-going refresher training and support. Staff had individual supervisions, team meetings and regular contact with office staff to share good practice and discuss any concerns.

People were supported to make their own decisions, and to retain their independence where possible. Their choices and views were respected. Their feedback was obtained through a variety of methods and people’s views were taken into consideration.

The provider and registered manager demonstrated they had systems and processes in place to monitor and improve the service to achieve consistently good standards of care and support for everyone who used the service. They were planning to develop the quality assurance of the service as the service was gradually expanding and wanted to assure that the quality and personalised service were maintained