Alina Homecare Walton on Thames

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

Responsive – this means we looked for evidence that the provider met people’s needs.

At our last assessment we rated this key question Good. At this assessment the rating has remained Good. This meant people’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery.

This service scored 71 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The provider made sure people were at the centre of their care and treatment choices and they decided, in partnership with people, how to respond to any relevant changes in people’s needs.

Senior management described how care planning was led by the person. They told us assessments were completed with people, and their views were used to develop personalised care plans. Senior management explained, using the latest technology, they could record assessments to improve accuracy and shared completed care plans with people to confirm they were happy with the information recorded. This helped ensure care plans reflected people’s wishes and provided opportunities for any concerns to be addressed promptly.

Senior management told us, “We will get staff together for a meeting to train them about interacting with people well.” This demonstrated support was provided to staff to deliver person-centred care through team meetings and training focused on positive interactions with people.

Staff understood the importance of treating each person as an individual. One staff member told us, “People are individuals so that’s how I treat them, as an individual. I will always care for them the way they want to be cared.”

Care records contained detailed personalised information, including people’s life histories, backgrounds, likes, dislikes and preferences. This provided staff with the information they needed to deliver care that reflected each person’s individual needs and choices.

Senior management described how they listened to people’s preferences during and after assessments. For example, 1 person with obsessive compulsive disorder requested changes to their care plan after the assessment. These were incorporated to reflect their wishes.

The provider understood the diverse health and care needs of people and their local communities, so care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity.

The service aimed to provide people with the same care staff wherever possible. Management monitored continuity of care through their electronic care system and reviewed it weekly to oversee consistency of staff allocation.

The provider was committed to maintaining stable care teams whilst respecting people's choices as people were informed, they would generally be supported by no more than 6 different members of staff over a monthly period, unless they expressed a preference for a wider range of staff.

People benefited from support delivered by familiar staff, enabling trusting and positive relationships to develop. Consistent staffing helped them gain a greater understanding of people's individual needs and preferences, resulting in care that was more responsive and person-centred. This approach promoted people's comfort, confidence and overall experience of the service.

The provider supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs.

People received information in ways that met their individual needs and enabled them to be involved in their care. Systems were in place to ensure people, relatives and staff received timely and accessible information.

Senior management told us they had a policy to support communication with people whose first language was not English, including translating information into people’s preferred languages where required. There was also a process in place to provide information in different formats if needed.

People received a welcome pack at the start of their care, containing information relevant to the support they were receiving. This was provided during a face-to-face meeting, giving people the opportunity to ask questions.

The provider made it easy for people to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. Staff involved people in decisions about their care and told them what had changed as a result.

Senior management told us they ensured the service learnt from concerns or complaints raised by people. They told us they had a lesson learned structure which included sharing learning with managers and holding meetings to discuss how practice could be improved. Managers used learning from external events to reinforce the importance of speaking up and raising concerns. They demonstrated a proactive approach to emerging risks by advising staff not to use artificial intelligence (AI) until a policy had been introduced to ensure confidentiality and information security were protected.

Staff understood how to support people to raise concerns. A staff member told us, “I would tell them to email the office so that it’s in writing. I would notify the office privately myself as well. I will explain what I believe the situation is if I’ve witnessed it.”

People understood how to raise concerns if required. One relative told us, “We have been given a complaints booklet and would go straight to the office if we had any problems.”

The provider made sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it.

The provider had effective out-of-hours arrangements to help ensure people could contact the service if needed outside of their normal care calls and that staff received important updates promptly.

People were given information about how to contact the service outside normal office hours, with calls diverted to the on-call manager. During out of office hours, changes to care visits were sent electronically and managers could monitor when staff had read these messages and follow up if needed.

Staff and leaders actively listened to information about people who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes and tailored their care, support and treatment in response to this.

Senior management told us care was driven by people’s assessed needs, and they did not discriminate when accepting referrals. Where the service could not safely meet a person’s needs, they were open about this and would not accept the package of care. Additional training was provided for staff where required, to ensure people received high quality care. We were told, “We aim to treat people equally and we celebrate individuality and our differences.”

Care records reflected people’s individual preferences and demonstrated these were respected in practice. One person requested that any new care staff were introduced before supporting them and given time to observe their routine.

Staff demonstrated an understanding of equality and inclusion. One staff member told us, “There isn’t any discrimination within the service. I’ve never heard any client complain about a person’s care because of their ethnicity.” Another staff member said, “Everyone is treated equally. I’ve never experienced any discrimination and have never seen any discrimination at Alina.” Relatives felt people were treated fairly. One relative told us, “She’s treated very fairly.”

People were not always supported to plan for important life changes, so they could have enough time to make informed decisions about their future, including at the end of their life.

People could not always be assured that their future wishes and end-of-life preferences were clearly documented and regularly reviewed. Out-of-date or missing information increased the risk that staff may not have access to accurate guidance about a person's future care needs. Records did not always reflect people's current circumstances or future care wishes. One person receiving end-of-life care did not have an end-of-life care plan in place. We also found another care plan contained information relating to end-of-life care that was no longer relevant.

However, the provider recognised the importance of appropriate training and involving people in decisions about their care, which helped reduce risks while improvements to care planning were being made.

Managers told us they encouraged people to lead discussions about their future care and end-of-life wishes. They explained that where a person's health was deteriorating, they would work with healthcare professionals, including GPs, to support planning and ensure care remained appropriate. Senior management told us, "We let the client drive this. Where we see that a client is deteriorating, we will liaise with the GP and other professionals. The client will drive the care plan."

Staff understood the importance of appropriate training before supporting people receiving end-of-life care. One staff member told us they had not yet completed end-of-life care training and, as a result, had not been allocated to support people receiving end-of-life care. They said, "They won't send you to any client without the right training."