Alfa House

Updated 20 July 2022

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period 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 (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four members of staff including the registered manager, the managing director and care staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care plans and medicines records for people supported with their medicines. We looked at recruitment checks and training records for two staff members. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.

Updated 20 July 2022

About the service

Alfa House is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people who live in their own houses and flats. At the time of the inspection the agency provided support with personal care to four older people with physical and health related support needs, some of who also lived with dementia.

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

People told us they felt safe with staff and found staff to be competent. Staff were trained to provide safe care and support. People’s individual needs and risks were assessed with them and their representatives where relevant. This included support people might have needed to take their medicines or to protect themselves from avoidable harm.

There were enough staff employed to provide people with timely visits. New staff were recruited safely. Although there were no incidents, accidents or safeguarding concern raised since the service started providing support to people, the registered manager and staff knew what to do to protect people.

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 told us staff were caring and respected them, their preferences, families and homes. One person told us, “[Staff] are very friendly. There is nothing to improve. I am very pleased with them.”

People were involved in planning and reviewing their care and asked for their feedback by the management. They knew how to raise any issues and felt listened to. When needed, a solution was offered and implemented to improve the care they received. People’s care plans included personalised information about them and their needs. Staff knew people well.

The registered manager and the manging director created a positive, open and transparent culture in the service and knew people well. Staff felt supported in their roles. The management team maintained direct oversight of the day to day care provided to people and supported staff to take action to contact other social care or healthcare professionals when people needed help to do so.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 25 March 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned first inspection of this service since its registration.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.