Archived: Alliance Living Care - Tamar Court

Updated 31 August 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is bought or rented and is the occupant’s own home. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people’s personal care service.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager, care manager, team leader and care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.

Updated 31 August 2019

About the service

Alliance Living Care - Tamar Court is a domiciliary care service providing support for people living in extra care housing. People receiving the service lived in their own flats in a purpose built complex. At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care for 39 people.

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

At the time of the inspection nobody was receiving end of life care. We found people’s care plans did not include personal preferences and wishes if they should need end of life care. We recommended that the provider seek guidance on how to record people’s personal wishes for end of life care.

People received care and support that was safe. The provider had a robust recruitment programme, which meant all new staff were checked to ensure they were suitable to work with vulnerable people. All staff had received training in recognising abuse and how to raise concerns. We found two care plans did not contain enough guidance for staff if they needed to manage a specific health related crisis. We raised this with the registered manager who reviewed the care plans immediately.

People were supported by a consistent staff team whom people knew well. Staff received mandatory training as well as training specific to people’s individual needs. Staff demonstrated a good understanding of people’s needs and how they preferred to be supported.

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 were supported by caring staff who respected their independence and supported them with dignity and respect. People told us staff were caring and often went above and beyond what was expected of them. For example, staff sometimes stayed late to ensure people could be supported to go to activities organised by the residents committee.

People received responsive care and support which was personalised to their individual needs and wishes and promoted independence. There was clear guidance for staff on how to support people in line with their personal wishes, likes and dislikes.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service, ensure staff kept up to date with good practice and to seek people’s views. Records showed the service responded to concerns and complaints and learnt from the issues raised.

People and staff spoke positively about the registered manager. Staff said they were valued and supported by the provider.

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

Rating at last inspection (and update)

The last rating for this service was good (published 12 July 2018). However, we found one breach of the regulations in the safe domain. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

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