Updated 17 September 2019
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 Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by an inspector.
Service and service type
Always Home Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
As the provider was an individual, the service was not required to have a registered manager as part of their registration. The provider was legally responsible for how the service was run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice, to ensure they would be available and to give them time to gain people’s consent for us to contact them for feedback.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed previous inspection reports and information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included information from the provider about important events that had taken place at the service, which they are required to send us. We sought feedback from the local authority and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all of this information to plan our inspection. Due to technical problems, the provider was not able to complete a Provide Information Return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
During the inspection
We spoke on the telephone with two people who were supported by the service and five relatives, to gain their feedback about the support provided. We also spoke with three care staff, the care co-ordinator and the provider, who is responsible for supervising the management of the service. We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and medication records. We looked at one staff recruitment file and staff supervision and appraisal records. We also reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures and audits.
After the inspection
We received updates from the provider about changes made to documentation. We contacted two community professionals who regularly visit people supported by the service for their feedback about the support provided by Always Home Care.