ANK Solutions Ltd

Updated 2 November 2022

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

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

ANK Solutions is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal and nursing care to people with varying needs living within their own homes.

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

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection to ensure the registered manager and staff would be present and available to support the inspection. Inspection activity started on 23 September 2022 and ended on 27 September 2022. We visited the location’s office on 27 September 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We checked information we had about the service including notifications they had sent us. We reviewed 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 help plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We met and spoke with the registered manager and the contracts manager, we reviewed a range of records including one care plan, two staff recruitment records and staff training records. We also reviewed records used in managing the service for example, policies and procedures, monitoring tools and audits. Following the office visit we spoke with a relative of a person using the service to seek their feedback on the service they received; and we spoke with two staff members supporting the person using the service.

Updated 2 November 2022

ANK Solutions Ltd is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal and nursing care to people living within their own homes. Not everyone using the service may receive a regulated activity. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with personal care; that is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

At the time of our inspection the service was providing personal and nursing care to one person. The provider was working on growing and expanding the service to provide personal and nursing care to adults and children with learning disabilities.

People’s experience of using this service

People were protected from the risk of abuse as the provider had safeguarding policies and procedures in place and staff had a good understanding of them. Recruitment checks took place before staff started work. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs safely.

Risks to people were assessed and management plans were developed to reduce identified risks. People received their medicines safely. Procedures were in place to reduce the risk of infections and staff had enough personal protective equipment.

People’s needs were assessed appropriately before they started using the service. People received support from staff to maintain good health and to access services they required. People were supported with their nutritional needs in line with their care plan. Staff were supported and trained to be effective in their roles.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. People were cared by staff who were kind and compassionate. Staff provided care and support to people to meet their individual needs and requirements. Staff promoted people’s cultural and religious beliefs and supported them to follow these.

People's communication needs were met. People knew how to make a complaint if they were unhappy with the service.

The quality of the service was regularly reviewed and monitored. Staff received the direction and leadership they needed. The views of people and staff were sought in the running of the service. The service worked in partnership with other organisation to improve the service.

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 the CQC June 2021 and this was the first inspection.

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 intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.