Alliance Community Home Care Ltd

Updated 19 May 2023

The inspection

We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.

Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people and staff.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by an 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 of 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.

Inspection activity started on 24 April 2023 and ended on 1 May 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since it was registered. 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 the registered manager, 4 relatives and 6 members of staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included 4 people's care records. We looked at 2 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 reviewed.

This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location's office. We used technology such as phone and video calls to enable us to engage with people and staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation.

Updated 19 May 2023

About the service

Alliance Community Home care is a domiciliary care service providing personal care. The service provides support to people living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 39 people using the service.

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

There were robust systems in place to safeguard people using the service and staff were able to recognise different signs of abuse. Care records evidenced risks were assessed, monitored and managed by staff. The service took actions to reduce risks of accidents and incidents reoccurring.

There were enough staff and staff were recruited safely. Management shared learning with staff. Staff were up to date with training and the registered manager had good oversight of training.

People's capacity to consent to care and support had been assessed and recorded. The registered manager and staff understood people had the right to make their own decisions about their care. 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.

Care plans were created with people and, where appropriate, their relatives. Care was regularly reviewed. Relatives we spoke to were positive about the care their family received. Care plans were detailed and included personal history, background, family, interests and social contacts.

Staff described a positive culture and staff told us they felt listened to by the registered manager.

Quality assurance and governance systems to monitor the quality and the safety of the service were in place, regular checks were completed and were effective in identifying areas for improvements.

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 26 October 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

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