01/05/2014
During a routine inspection
Allied Healthcare - Sheffield is a domiciliary care service that is registered to provide personal and nursing care. Support is provided to adults living in their own homes. Support is based on individual need and can range from a fifteen minute call up to twenty four hours a day.
The service had a registered manager in post at the time of inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and shares the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law with the provider.
Our inspection team was made up of an inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
As part of the inspection we contacted 14 people who used the service and six people’s close relatives by telephone. The people we spoke with told us they felt happy and safe with the service. They said staff treated them with respect and were mindful of their rights and dignity. They said staff were caring and kind.
People’s needs had been assessed and their care was given in a way that suited their needs. They were involved in making decisions about taking risks in their lives.
People who used the service and people who mattered to them, such as close family members, had been encouraged to make their views known about their care. People had contributed to their assessments and care plans, about how they should be given care and support and their packages of care had been designed around this.
People’s care plans had a good level of information about how each person should be supported which helped to make sure staff knew how to meet people’s needs.
Staff were well trained, skilled and experienced. People told us the staff were kind and gave them the privacy they needed. They said the staff had caring attitudes and encouraged people to be as independent as they could be.
People were encouraged to share any concerns and complaints they had. The people we spoke with had no complaints and said they were very happy with the service, as re was a new manager, who had made improvements.
People had a chance to say what they thought about the service. We found the service learned from its mistakes by using complaint and incidents as an opportunity for learning or improvement. There was good leadership at all levels and the managers promoted a positive culture that was person centred, open, inclusive and empowering.