Archived: Alina Homecare Brent

Updated 9 March 2018

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.

This inspection took place on 26 and 29 September 2017 and was announced. We gave 48 hours’ notice of our inspection as this is a domiciliary care service and the manager may be out of the office undertaking care our assessments. We needed to be sure that a manager was available during our inspection.

The service was inspected by a single inspector. An expert by experience made calls to people who used the service to ascertain their satisfaction. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

We used a range of methods to help us to understand the experiences of people who used the service. We reviewed records held by the service that included the care records for seven people receiving care and support and six staff records, along with records relating to the management of the service. .We spoke with the registered manager, an area manager, a quality manager and four care staff members. We were also able to speak with nine people who used the service and one family member.

Before our inspection we looked at the information that we held about the service. This included notifications, enquiries and other information that that we had received from the service. We also spoke with a representative from a commissioning local authority.

Updated 9 March 2018

Our inspection of Alina Homecare Brent took place on 26 and 29 September 2017. This was an announced inspection. 48 hours’ notice of the inspection was given because the service is a domiciliary care agency and we needed to be sure that staff were available when we visited.

Alina Homecare Brent is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to older people living in their own houses and flats in the community. At the time of our inspection the service provided care and support to 41 people living in the London Boroughs of Brent and Barnet.

Alina Homecare Ltd had taken over the service from another provider on 15 February 2017. This was their first inspection.

The Service had a registered manager. 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

People spoke positively about the care that was provided by the service. The majority of people that we spoke with told us that their care and support had improved during the past year.

People told us that they felt safe when receiving care. Staff members understood how to safeguard the people whom they supported. There were appropriate numbers of staff employed to ensure that people's needs were met and that there was continuity of care in the case of staff absence. The provider had carried out checks to ensure that staff members were of good character and suitable for the work that they were engaged in.

Arrangements were in place to ensure that risks associated with the provision of care and support were assessed and managed. Risk assessments and management plans had been reviewed regularly and updated where there had been changes in people's care needs.

Some people's medicines were administered by staff members and we saw that this was recorded. The quality of these records had been reviewed by the service. Staff had received training in safe administration of medicines and their competency in this area had also been checked.

Staff received regular training that covered a wide range of topics. New staff members received induction training prior to commencing work with people. They were able to describe the training that they had received and tell us about how it helped them to support the people with whom they worked.

Training and information had been provided to staff about The Mental Capacity Act (2005), including the Deprivation of Liberties Safeguards. Information about people's capacity to consent was contained within their care plans, and staff members were able to describe how they supported people to make decisions and choices about their care.

Arrangements were in place to ensure that staff members were provided with regular supervision by a manager. The records showed that regular supervisions had taken place and this was confirmed by the staff members that we spoke with. Regular spot checks of staff providing care to people in their homes had also taken place.

Care plans were in place detailing how people wished to be supported, and people were involved in making decisions about their care. People told us that they valued the support that they received from their care staff. Staff members spoke positively about their work and the people whom they supported.

The service had a complaints procedure and people told us that they were aware of this. Complaints were monitored and the records showed that these were dealt with immediately and to people’s satisfaction.

Regular monitoring of people's views of the service had taken place and we noted that this showed high levels of satisfaction with the service. People and staff members told us they were satisfied with the management of the service.

The service had effective processes in place to monitor the care and welfare of people and improve the quality of the service. Monitoring of care calls had taken place and care documents and staffing records were regularly reviewed.

The service worked in partnership with other health and social care providers to achieve positive outcomes for people.