Almost Family Limited

Updated 1 April 2023

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 1 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 provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

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 1 March 2023 and ended on 6 March 2023. We visited the location’s office on 1 March 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from professionals who work with the service. 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 2 people who used the service and 2 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 5 members of staff including the registered manager, nominated individual and care staff. We contacted 2 professionals for their experience of working with the service. We reviewed a range of records which included 2 people's care plans. We looked at recruitment checks and training records for 2 staff members. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.

Updated 1 April 2023

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

About the service

Almost Family Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to 6 people at the time of the inspection. The service provides support to older people. The service supported 10 people in total.

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

Right Support: People were involved in their care planning and were provided with a draft of their care plan to modify and finalise. Care plans were regularly reviewed, and support was adapted to peoples changing needs. People told us they were encouraged to be as independent as possible. 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.

Right Care: People’s diversity was not being captured as accurately as it could be and the registered manager changed their system as a result of our feedback on the day of inspection. The registered manager explained it was important that they respected people’s privacy and dignity by being subtle in their provision of care. They told us, “There is nothing worse than having a branded car on your drive which says ‘care’. We could be a relative. It takes the stigma away.” People told us they felt an effort was made for care to be provided in the way they chose.

Right Culture: The ethos of Almost Family Limited was to promote a bespoke care service which was tailored to the persons needs rather than service led. There was a focus on providing care calls at the time people specifically requested rather than directed by staff availability and service needs. Staff were conscientious in their work and wore additional personal protective equipment if they had a cold and felt it would make people feel more comfortable. People and their relatives told us the management and team were approachable and open with their communication.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 22 August 2019). The service had been inspected since, where we found breaches of regulation had been met, but the rating of the service was not updated (published 15 October 2020).

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.