Allcare Nurses Agency Limited

Updated 14 June 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

An inspector and an Expert by Experience undertook the inspection. 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 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 not a registered manager in post. The nominated individual and deputy manager were undertaking management duties. The nominated individual told us they had commenced the recruitment process for a new manager.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 3 May 2023 and ended on 15 May 2023. We visited the location’s office on 3 May 2023.

What we did before the inspection

Prior to the inspection we looked at the information we held about the service. This included feedback and notifications which the provider is required to send to us. We also sought feedback from professionals who had experience of the service. We used 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 plan our inspection.

During the inspection

During the inspection we spoke with 4 people who used the service and 7 family members. We obtained feedback from 9 professionals. Twelve staff members provided feedback. This was either face to face, on the telephone or via email. These included, 9 support staff, 1 office administrator, the deputy manager and the nominated individual who took overall responsibility. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We looked at the care records for 4 people who were in receipt of care. We also checked staff files, training records and documentation in relation to the operation and oversight of the service.

Updated 14 June 2023

About the service

Allcare Nurses Agency Limited is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to adults and children. At the time of the inspection they were supporting 28 people with personal care. 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.

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

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. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

Right Support: Model of Care and setting that maximises people’s choice, control and independence

People told us they felt safe and staff knew what to do if abuse was suspected. Staff had received safeguarding training. Risks were assessed. 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. Care records identified that people’s capacity had been considered. People and relatives told us they had agreed to their care.

People told us they had been involved in peoples assessments and professionals were positive about the care the service provided. Activities were being supported to most people. Some people told us more consistency with visits would increase access to activities. Care records were in place and records of daily care provided was completed. People told us they had been involved in the development and reviews of care plans.

Right Care: Care is person-centred and promotes people’s dignity, privacy and human rights

We made a recommendation in relation to recording of medicines. Some people said that there was sufficient staff in place.

People’s individual care needs were met and they were treated with dignity. People were positive about their care. The nominated individual told us about the actions they had taken as a result of the concern raised by one person. Staff told us they felt people received good care.

The service worked in partnership with professionals to achieve good outcomes for people. Guidance, policies and information was available to support continuous learning and improvements.

Right Culture: The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.

Training, supervisions, spot checks and competencies had been completed. Most people told us they were confident in the skills of the staff. The deputy manager and nominated individual confirmed the actions they had taken to monitor, support and provide extra training for a staff member. We received mostly positive feedback about the service. Policy and guidance was available to deal with complaints. People’s views were sought and team meetings were undertaken.

People were positive about the management and the staff team. The nominated individual told us they had commenced the recruitment process for a new manager.

Audits had been completed but they required more detail to demonstrate what had been reviewed and the actions taken as a result. The audits did not always identify the findings we found at this inspection. The nominated individual provided evidence of more detailed audits and the actions they were taking to ensure they were more robust.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 5 February 2020).

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

At our last inspection we recommended the provider consulted best practice guidance in relation to the training and support offered to staff, and that the service considered best practice guidance on the management of complaints. During this inspection we found some improvements had been made however we made recommendation in relation to medicines management and the operation and oversight of the service.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service and to follow up from the previous rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Allcare Nurses Agency Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have made recommendations in relation to medicines management and the operation and oversight of the service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.