ALICELYN HEALTHCARE LTD

Updated 9 April 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 homes.

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 the service 48 hours’ 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 17 March 2022 when we visited the service office and ended on 22 March 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since registration. We sought feedback from the local authority. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does 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 and four relatives, about their experience of the care provided. At the time of the inspection there were three staff employed to provide care, which included the nominated individual and registered manager. We spoke with the nominated individual and registered manager and attempted contact with the third care worker. We reviewed three people’s care plans and risk assessments. We reviewed two staff files to look at the recruitment, training and supervision records.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 9 April 2022

About the service

Alicelyn Healthcare Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care in people’s own homes. At the time of the inspection the service was providing care and support to 10 people.

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

The service was predominantly well run, and people who used the service were very happy with the care and support they received. The provider’s audit systems were quite basic, which meant not all aspects of service delivery were robustly monitored. We have made a recommendation about the provider’s audit systems. Despite the lack of a comprehensive programme of audits being place, the registered manager possessed a good oversight of the service as they were involved in people's care.

People felt safe in the company of staff. People consistently told us staff were kind, arrived on time and they received support from the same core group of staff, which promoted good continuity of care. The service had recruitment processes in place to ensure suitable staff were employed. Staff followed safe infection control practices.

People were supported by staff who were competent and skilled. Staff were trained to administer people’s medicines safely and to identify and report any safeguarding concerns. Staff asked people for their consent before providing them with any care. People who used the service 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 person-centred and people were fully involved in decisions about their care and support. The service regularly reviewed people’s care, but discussions with relevant persons weren’t always captured as part of this process. The registered manager assured CQC action would be taken to address this record keeping issue.

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 October 2019. This is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the date of registration.

Follow up

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