ACAH Limited

Updated 27 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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This 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 houses and flats.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

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 24 March and ended on 25 March 2022. We visited the office location on 24 March 2022 and made telephone calls to people and relatives on 25 March 2022

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service and we sought feedback from the local authority. The provider was not asked to send in a provider 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. This information helps support our inspections. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service and three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with two care staff members, and the registered manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included six people’s care records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits and training records were reviewed.

Updated 27 April 2022

About the service

ACAH limited is a domiciliary care agency, providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of inspection, 20 people were using the service. Only 14 people were receiving personal care.

CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

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

Risks to people’s safety were assessed and details around the care they required were documented. People felt safe using the service.

Safe recruitment practices were followed, and there were enough staff employed to meet people’s needs.

Medicines were administered safely.

People told us staff wore personal protective equipment (PPE) as required, and staff were trained in infection control.

Staff were given the training and support they required to carry out their roles.

When required, people received the support they needed with nutrition, hydration, and healthcare needs.

Audits and checks took place to ensure that standards were high, and any mistakes were found and resolved.

The registered manager understood their responsibilities, and worked in an open and transparent way. People and their relatives knew how to contact them if required.

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

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 11 March 2020).

Why we inspected

This was a focused inspection based upon the providers previous rating of requires improvement. We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of Safe, Effective, and well-led only.

The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good, based on the findings of this inspection.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.