Archived: Allied Healthcare Wirral

Updated 29 November 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

We inspected the service on 16 and 17 October 2016. We gave short notice to the registered provider because we needed to be sure that they would be available during our inspection visit. The inspection team consisted of an adult social care inspector.

Before the inspection the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used this information to help inform our planning of the inspection. We reviewed all the information we held about the service. This included looking at any safeguarding referrals received, whether any complaints had been made and any other information from members of the public. Before the inspection we looked at notifications we had received. A notification is information about important events which the registered provider is required to tell us about by law.

Questionnaires were sent to people who used the service, relatives and health care professionals prior to the inspection visit. Information from these is included in the report.

We contacted the local authority safeguarding and contracts teams for their views on the service. They raised no concerns about this service.

On the days of our inspection we visited six people who used the service, spoke with four relatives, the service delivery manager, care delivery director and six staff members. Staff members included field care supervisors and care staff. Following the inspection we spoke on the telephone to three people who used the service.

We looked at a selection of records. This included six people’s care and support records, five staff recruitment files, staff duty rotas, medication administration and storage, quality assurance audits, complaints and compliments information, policies and procedures and other records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 29 November 2016

We inspected this service on 17 and 18 October 2016 and we gave short notice to the registered provider prior to our visit. This was to ensure that key people were available during the inspection.

Allied Healthcare Wirral is a domiciliary care agency that provides care and support services for people living in their own homes across the Wirral peninsular. The agency operates from office premises in Claughton village. The service currently supports 147 people living within the local community who are supported by staff team of 85.

The previous inspection was undertaken on 3 September 2013 and the service met the regulations we assessed at that time.

There was a registered manager in place at this service. They had been registered for 15 months. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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.

The registered manager was not available during this inspection and the service delivery manager was in charge of the service. They were supported by care delivery director during the first day.

People told us they were very happy with the service provided and that the staff were excellent, caring and friendly. People said “The staff are very helpful”, “Staff do extra jobs if needed”, “I am very satisfied with the carers here”, “I get on with staff very well”, “The carers are really good” and “We wouldn’t be without them.”

Staff told us they enjoyed working at the service and providing support to people within the community. They said they were well supported by the office and management team and that they appreciated they were available including out of hours to support them.

Care plans were well documented and up to date. They gave clear guidance to the staff team. Risk assessments were undertaken for a variety of tasks which included moving and handling, nutrition, falls, the environment and challenging behaviour. These were reviewed regularly and up to date. The management of medication was safe.

Staff were aware of how to report a safeguarding concern. They were aware of the policies and procedures available to safeguard people from harm and told us they would not hesitate to report any concerns to the owners.

Staff had received a range of training that included moving and handling, safeguarding, medication, health and safety and infection control. A range of other training was available for the staff team to access. Staff told us that the training was good. Staff had access to supervision sessions and were invited to attend regular staff meetings.

Staff recruitment files showed that robust recruitment processes were in place. Staff attended an induction process prior to working alone in the community. Staff told us that they worked alongside an experienced staff member before going out alone. They confirmed the induction process was good and that they had the information they needed to perform their role.

People had access to information about the service that included the statement of purpose and service user’s guide. They said that they knew the information was in their care folder and some people had read this. Other people said they were not bothered about the folder but knew the information was available. An initial home visit was undertaken by one of the care coordinators prior to the service starting.

A complaints policy was available and each person had this information within the care folder. Processes were in place to deal with any complaints received.

Quality assurance processes were in place which included observations of staff to ensure that care and support standards were being maintained, reviews of people’s care and an annual questionnaire for people who used the service. Audits were undertaken in relation to the service provided and these monitored the services safety and effectiveness.