We carried out a review of the data available to us about Alternative Care Services Limited on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Alternative Care Services Limited, you can give feedback on this service.
Alternative Care Services Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. It provides a service to older people and younger disabled adults and is the first provider in the UK specifically for the LGBTQI+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and other ways that people can define themselves, for example Q (Questioning) and I (Intersex)) community. They were supporting four people 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
People and their relatives were positive about the caring and compassionate nature of the staff that supported them. One relative said, “They are inclusive and importantly, understand and look at LGBT issues.”
People and their relatives felt listened to and involved in decisions about their care. We received positive comments about the flexible and tailored approach to meeting their needs.
There was an open and inclusive culture across the service and people and their relatives felt comfortable approaching the management team. People and their relatives were confident any issues would be dealt with and had been happy with how the provider had responded to their feedback.
People felt safe using the service and relatives told us they felt reassured with the service provided. A health and social care professional praised the provider on how they had responded to an emergency.
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.
The provider was passionate about the rights of people who needed support from the LGBTQI+ community and shared information about inclusive events and opportunities with people and the staff team.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
At the last inspection the service was not formally rated (published 17 November 2018).
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.
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. It provides a service to older adults and younger disabled adults and is the first provider in the UK specifically for the LGBTQI+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and other ways that people can define themselves, for example Q (Questioning) and I (Intersex)) community.
At the time of the inspection they were supporting three people in the London Boroughs of Lambeth and Camden. Not everyone using Alternative Care Services Limited receives 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.
All three people had been receiving personal care for less than three months. This meant that although we were able to carry out an inspection we did not find enough information and evidence about parts of the key questions we ask about services, or the experiences of people using the service, to provide a rating for each of the five questions and an overall rating for the service. We were therefore not able to rate the service against the characteristics for inadequate, requires improvement, good and outstanding ratings at this inspection.
There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
People who were supported with their medicines did not always have the full up-to-date information recorded in their care records. We had to seek clarification after the inspection to confirm the level of support that was being provided.
There were inconsistencies between the three care records we reviewed. Records did not always contain sufficient and detailed information about the care and support people received.
Risk assessments covered a range of factors that people were at risk of, including environmental assessments to ensure people’s homes were safe. However, not all risks were fully addressed with sufficient information available for staff to follow to keep people safe.
Staff were aware of their safeguarding responsibilities and were confident the registered manager would take the appropriate action if they had any concerns. We could not confirm if safer recruitment procedures had been followed as some documents were not available at the time of the inspection. We requested them to be sent after the inspection and we were still waiting for confirmation of them at the time of writing this report.
Staff had received training around the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and there was evidence people had consented to their care. However, two care records did not fully reflect how consent had been sought in line with best practice.
An induction and mandatory training programme was in place when new staff started to support them in their role. Care workers spoke positively about the specific training they received about supporting people in the LGBTQI+ community.
Care records highlighted if people were supported with their nutritional needs and if they had any dietary preferences. However, for one person’s care record more information was required to provide a more accurate summary of the support that was given.
People and their relatives had been actively involved in decisions about their agreed care and support. We received positive comments about the kind and caring nature of care workers and how positive relationships had been developed at the start of the care package.
People were provided with information on how to make a complaint. Relatives told us they would feel comfortable getting in touch with the provider if they had any concerns.
The service promoted an open and honest culture. We received positive feedback about the management team and staff felt well supported. Staff were confident they could raise any concerns or issues, knowing they would be listened to and acted upon.
Staff spoke positively about the values of the provider and the direction the organisation was going in. The registered manager was passionate about the rights of people who needed support from the LGBTQI+ community. He had been involved in campaigning for people’s rights at workshops and national conferences.
There were arrangements in place to assess and monitor the quality and effectiveness of the service and use these findings to make ongoing improvements. Due to the size of the service, formal records of quality monitoring had not been completed.
We had further contact with the management team after the inspection and gave feedback about the shortfalls we had identified. We asked the registered manager to send us an action plan about the improvements they planned to make.
We will be in contact with the provider as the service develops and will aim to return within six months to carry out the next inspection and provide a rating for the service.