Archived: Alesco Care Services Ltd

Alesco is a domiciliary care agency that was providing personal care to 13 older adults living in their own homes at the time of the inspection. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People received safe care and were protected from discrimination. Staff understood the actions they needed to take if they suspected abuse or poor practice. Staff were recruited safely, including employment and criminal record checks. Staffing levels were flexible and responsive to people’s changing needs. Staff understood the risks people lived with and the actions needed to prevent avoidable harm whilst respecting people’s choices and freedoms. Medicines were administered safely. The registered manager told us they were introducing annual staff medicine administration competency checks. Accidents, incidents and complaints were an opportunity for reflective learning and service improvements.

People received care from staff that had completed an induction and had on-going training and support that enabled them to carry out their roles effectively. People had an initial assessment that captured their care needs and lifestyle preferences. This information had been used to create person centred care plans that were regularly reviewed with people and their families. People had their eating and drinking needs met as care staff were knowledgeable about their likes, dislikes, allergies and any special dietary needs related to health conditions.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People received care from staff that were reliable and described as consistently kind and caring. People and their families were involved in decisions about their day to day care. Staff were knowledgeable about people’s history, social networks and family and friends important to them. People had their privacy and dignity respected by staff who promoted and understood the importance of enabling people’s independence.

Care was responsive to people’s changing needs and preferences. Positive working relationships with other health and social care professionals enabled good outcomes for people. People had an opportunity to be involved in discussions about their last wishes which reflected any spiritual or cultural choices.

People, their families and the staff team were positive about the management of the service, describing the culture as open, supportive and caring. Staff were clear about their roles and responsibilities and felt involved in the development of the service. Quality assurance processes were robust, multi layered and captured the voice of people, their families and the staff. The registered manager met their legal responsibilities for reporting events to statutory bodies such as CQC and the local authority.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection: The last rating for this service was good (published 25 May 2017).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on previous rating.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to older people living in their own homes in the community. At the time of our inspection there were seven people receiving a service from the agency.

The registered manager was not available during our inspection. The service had manager responsible for the day to day running of the service and they were in the process of applying to become the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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 organisations management arrangements required improvement. They had not been overseeing the management of the service or monitoring the quality of service delivery. Statutory notifications had not always been made to CQC which is a legal requirement.

People, their families, staff and external health and social care professionals spoke positively about the care agency and manager. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities and felt supported and listened too by the manager. Audits and quality assurance systems enabled people, their families and staff to feedback their views and ideas about the service. Information gathered was used to provide learning to staff and ensure positive care experiences for people.

People told us they felt safe. Staff understood how to recognise potential abuse and their role in reporting concerns. Risks to people had been assessed and staff understood the actions needed to minimise identified risks. People were supported by enough staff who had been recruited safely and received training and supervision that enabled them to carry out their roles effectively. Medicines were administered safely and as prescribed.

People were supported within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act. Staff supported people’s ability and choices about their day to day life’s and understood the need for obtaining consent.

People and their families described the staff as caring, gentle, kind, patient and fun. Staff spoke affectionately about people and had a good knowledge of their interests and things in their lives that were important to them. People’s individual communication needs were understood by staff which had a positive impact on people’s wellbeing and ensured they were involved in decisions about their day to day lives. People felt staff respected their privacy, dignity and right to be independent.

People had been involved in their care and support plans and staff understood their role in supporting people with their care needs. Information included details of people’s eating and drinking needs and choices. Reviews took place regularly with people and reflected their changing needs. When appropriate people were supported with access to healthcare services. A complaints procedure was in place and people and their families felt if they had any concerns they would be listened too and appropriate actions would be taken.