Allerton C&S NE Limited

Updated 15 May 2021

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 two inspectors.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses, flats and specialist housing.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice to ensure measures could be put in place to reduce COVID-19 risks.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with seven people who used the service and seven relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five staff including the provider, registered manager, service manager and care workers.

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

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 15 May 2021

About the service

Allerton C&S NE Limited (previously Navigation Support & Care Services) is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care and support for people in their own homes who have a learning disability or autism. The service can provide care for adults of all ages and covered Lincoln and surrounding areas.

Not everyone who used the service received 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. At the time of our inspection the service was providing support for 18 people.

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

People and staff provided positive feedback on the management of the service. Relatives raised some concerns regarding communication; the provider was taking action to address this.

There were systems and processes in placer to identify and manage risks to people’s care. There were organisational governance processes in place to monitor the quality of the service.

People were supported by sufficient numbers of staff who had been recruited safely. However, the provider did not have an on-going system in place to follow up on the check of criminal records.

People received their medicines from staff who had been trained to safely administer medicines.

Staff had received training on infection prevention and control. Information and guidance on infection control measures were available for staff and people. However, the provider did not have a robust system in place to monitor weekly COVID-19 testing.

People and their relatives told us they felt safe with the staff who supported them. Staff had received safeguarding training and were able to demonstrate their understanding and responsibilities to reduce the risk of harm to people.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right Support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

This service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of right support, right care, right culture. The service demonstrated person centred care, with open and transparent leadership promoting a positive culture.

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 good (published 10 May 2019).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the management of the service. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Allerton C&S NE Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.