Alma Care (UK)

Updated 4 April 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out on 13 February by an adult social care inspector.

Service and service type:

Alma Care UK is a domiciliary care agency; staff provide care and support to people in their own homes. 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 visit because it is small and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in. We visited the registered office location on 13 February 2019 to speak to the registered manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service including any notifications we had received. A notification must be sent to the Care Quality Commission every time a significant incident takes place which has or may affect people using the service.

We looked at the Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR is a document the provider sends to us describing what they do well and any planned improvements. We also read the previous inspection report and the provider’s reports of actions taken to improve the service. We obtained feedback from a representative of a local authority which refers people who require support, to Alma Care UK.

During the inspection visit we spoke with the registered and office managers. We looked at five people’s care files, two staff files which included their recruitment, training and supervision records as well as policies and records relating to the management of the service.

Following the inspection we spoke with three people who use the service and two relatives to obtain their feedback on the quality of care provided.

Updated 4 April 2019

This inspection took place on 13 February 2019 and was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice of the inspection as we needed to be sure the registered manager would be available at the registered office.

About the service:

Alma Care (UK) is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. Not everyone using Alma Care (UK) receives the regulated activity. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also take into account any wider social care provided.

At the time of our inspection visit there were 11 people using the service. The service had a registered manager in post. 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 a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Rating at last inspection:

At our previous inspection in June 2018, the overall rating for this service was 'Requires improvement'. However, we placed the service in 'special measures' because the service had been rated as 'Inadequate' in a key question over two consecutive comprehensive inspections. We found several issues which indicated a continued lack of good governance including a lack of effective systems to assess and monitor the quality of care people received.

Following that inspection we met with the provider to discuss our concerns. The provider sent us regular action plans stating how they were making the required improvements and the date by which these actions would be completed.

Why we inspected:

We scheduled this inspection based on the previous rating; as well as to check the provider had completed the actions set out in their action plans and made the required improvements. During this inspection we found the provider was meeting the regulations. The overall rating for the service is now “Good”.

People’s experience of using this service:

People felt safe receiving support from Alma Care staff because they were usually supported by the same staff who arrived for planned visits when expected and knew what to do once they arrived. Staff were caring and treated people with respect. They supported people in a way which maintained their independence.

People received their medicines safely and as prescribed. People were protected from the risk of infection because staff followed the provider’s infection control policies and procedures.

Appropriate checks were carried out on staff before they began to work alone with people. Staff received relevant training, supervision and performance reviews which helped them to provide safe and effective care.

The provider conducted risk assessments to help make sure care was provided safely to people; and to protect people from abuse and foreseeable harm. Staff understood the importance of reporting accidents and incidents. The provider learned from accidents and incidents; and used this learning to improve the service. Staff knew how to recognise abuse and report any concerns about people’s safety.

The provider gave people regular opportunities to provide feedback on the quality of care they received. The feedback received by us and the provider was that people were satisfied with the quality of care they received.

Following our previous inspection, the provider took prompt action to improve the systems to assess and monitor the quality of the service. During this inspection we found that these systems were consistently used by the provider and were operating effectively.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor this service and plan to inspect in line with our re-inspection for services rated "Good".