Archived: Allied Healthcare Coventry

Updated 22 March 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The inspection took place on 22 February 2017 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we wanted to be sure the registered manager was available on the day of our visit, and could set up appointments in advance for us to talk with their staff and people who used the services.

The inspection team consisted of one 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.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. We looked at information received from the local authority commissioners and the statutory notifications the registered manager had sent us. A statutory notification is information about important events, which the provider is required to send to us by law. Commissioners are people who work to find appropriate care and support services, which are paid for by the local authority. The local authority commissioner had no concerns about this service.

We spoke with nine people, and two relatives of people who used the service. We spoke with five care staff, two office staff and the registered manager.

We looked at four care records, three recruitment records, training records, medicine records and checks the registered manager and provider undertook to ensure a quality service was delivered to people.

Updated 22 March 2017

This inspection took place on 22 February 2017 and was announced.

At our last inspection the service was rated as ‘Requires Improvement’ and was in breach of Regulation 18 (Staffing) of the Health and Social Care Act, Regulated Activity Regulations 2014.

During this visit we found improvements had been made and the service was no longer in breach of the Regulation.

Allied Healthcare Coventry is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people who live in their own home. At the time of our visit the service had a team of 49 care workers providing support to 123 people.

The service had a registered manager who worked at the service 2.5 days a week. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

At our last inspection people were not receiving their care calls on time and staff rushed their care calls because there were not enough staff to support the number of people who needed care. Since then, the provider has improved its recruitment and retention of staff and there were enough staff on duty to meet people’s needs.

At our last inspection people were not happy with the service’s response to concerns or complaints. During this inspection people told us any concerns were responded to quickly by the office staff. The provider monitored any concerns raised to ensure they were managed in line with their policy and procedure.

At our last inspection people did not feel there was good communication between the care workers and office management, and staff morale was low. During this inspection we found communication had improved, and the provider had introduced a range of measures to improve staff morale and to show they valued their staff.

People received care from staff they were familiar with and who took their time to provide the care they needed. Staff mostly told us they had enough time to travel from one person’s home to another so they could get to their calls at the expected time.

People felt safe with staff who supported them, and staff recruitment procedures reduced the risks of the service employing unsuitable care workers. Medicines were managed safely so people received their medicines as prescribed.

Staff received good training and support from the provider. The management and staff had a good understanding of the principles of the Mental Capacity Act, and made decisions in people’s best interests when they did not have capacity to make informed decisions for themselves.

People felt staff knew how to provide care for them and told us staff were very caring. Staff treated people with dignity, respected their property, and ensured privacy when undertaking personal care. Staff quickly identified if people’s health care needs changed and liaised with the right health care professional to support the person.