Alimo Care Ltd

Updated 3 August 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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

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

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

We gave a short period notice of the inspection 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 5 June 2023 and ended on 20 June 2023. We visited the location’s office on 20 June 2023.

What we did before the inspection

Before the inspection we reviewed information we had received about the service since it registered with CQC. This included CQC notifications. These describe events that happen in the service that the provider is legally required to tell us about.

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 this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 3 people who used the service and 4 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We received feedback from 2 professionals who worked with the service. We spoke with 10 members of staff, including the registered manager and support staff. Everyone’s comments have been incorporated into this report.

We looked at a range of records about people's care and the running of the service. This included 4 people’s care records and medication records. We looked at 4 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff support. We read documents relating to the management of the service including audits, policies and procedures and training information.

We considered all of this information to help us to make a judgement about the service.

Updated 3 August 2023

About the service

AliMo Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides support and personal care to people living in their own homes. The service provides support to adults who have a range of physical, cognitive or mental health needs. The service is registered to provide support to people with a learning disability or a autistic people. At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

At the time of the inspection, 45 people were receiving personal care from the service. 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

People were protected from the risk of harm or abuse and told us they felt safe with the staff who supported them. Systems, policies and staff training helped to protect people and ensure actions would be taken if there were concerns. Staff worked with people and other agencies to manage risks.

Risks to people's health, safety and well-being were assessed and reviewed regularly. Staff knew people well and supported them to remain as independent as possible and risks were managed in people’s best interests. People were supported by staff who were trained and competent in helping them with medicines.

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.

People and their relatives were positive about staff and the service they received. Support was usually provided by staff who knew people well. Staff received a comprehensive induction with ongoing training, supervision and monitoring. Enough staff were employed, and safe recruitment practices were in place.

There was a positive culture and staff at all levels were passionate about providing a high quality service with the person at the centre. People and their relatives told us the service was consistently well-led. Staff felt respected, valued and supported and were proud to work for the service.

Governance systems and processes were effective and helped the registered manager to monitor standards and continue providing high quality support. Actions were taken to manage risks or make changes when shortfalls were identified.

Feedback from people and their relatives was positive, and surveys and reviews were carried out regularly to check people remained happy and the service met their needs. People and their relatives told us they felt able to raise concerns or complaints with the managers, although most added that they had not needed to do this. The registered manager was open and keen to learn to continually 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

The last rating for this service was good (published 5 January 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has remained good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

Follow up

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