Aster Care Ltd

Updated 28 December 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 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.

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 a short period 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 31 October 2019 and ended on 8 November 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from professionals who work with the service and relatives of people who used the service. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. 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 were unable to speak to people who used the service, so we spoke to three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We gained feedback from eleven members of staff including the nominated individual, the registered manager and care workers. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and medication records. We looked at six staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including complaints, policies and procedures, accident and incident records as well as governance records 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 28 December 2019

About the service

Aster care is a domiciliary care service which supports people to live at home who may have long term health conditions; which could mean people needed twenty-four-hour care. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting five people who required support with living at home. Some people were being provided with twenty-four-hour care and at times required the support of two care staff.

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

People's needs were met in a truly individual and personalised way by staff who were kind, caring and responsive to their changing needs. The support they received enabled them to achieve positive outcomes and remain living in their homes. People felt listened to and knew how to raise concerns. Enough staff who had been recruited safely were available to meet people’s needs and we observed staff respecting people's privacy and protecting their dignity.

People could be confident they were supported by staff who had access to appropriate guidance and understood how to keep them safe. Staff’s knowledge of the people they supported was good and they were able to tell us about the risks associated with their care and how to minimise these.

People’s medicines were managed safely, and people were protected from the risk of infection because staff used protective equipment. Incidents were used to identify improvements that could be made to people’s care and support.

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; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff had received appropriate training and support to enable them to carry out their role safely. They received regular supervision to help develop their skills and support them in their role.

People knew how to raise concerns. They had confidence in the registered manager and told us they would recommend the service to others. A quality assurance system was in place to assess, monitor and improve the service. Incidents and accidents were monitored by the registered manager. Where incidents occurred in the home the registered manager ensured appropriate action was taken for people to reduce the likelihood of injury or recurrence.

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 11 May 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous 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.