Alcedo Care Blackpool

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats across the Fylde, Wyre and surrounding areas. At the time of the inspection the agency supported 86 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 car provided.

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

People we spoke with were positive about Alcedo Care and the support provided. One person said, “Very good they have done all we ask and more.” Staff were recruited safely and deployed in people's homes to meet their specific needs. Staff spoken with were provided with safeguarding training and aware of the processes to follow should they need to. Staff managed medicines in line with national guidelines in people’s own homes. Support for people was planned to ensure the persons needs and wishes were considered. Risks were assessed both the environment and when out in the local community.

People received support with their healthcare and nutritional needs when assessed as needed. 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 received training and were regularly formally supervised. One staff member said, “Training opportunities are very good and one to one sessions with the management team occur on a regular basis.”

The registered manager had auditing systems to maintain ongoing oversight and development of the service. Quality assurance processes ensured people were able to give their views of the agency. In addition, ‘spot checks’ were completed by senior staff to ensure Alcedo Care maintained a good service and any issues could be addressed.

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

Rating at last inspection

The rating at the last inspection for this service was good (Published on the 30 November 2018.)

Why we inspected

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

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

Follow Up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme.

Kare Plus provides personal care assistance for people who live in their own homes. The office is based in Blackpool. Kare Plus is a domiciliary care agency providing practical and personal care to people living in their own homes in the Blackpool and surrounding areas. The agency includes supports for older people, dementia, mental health, physical disability and younger adults. The agency is part of a large organisation that has branches in the north west. Parking is provided outside the office building in Blackpool. At the time of the inspection visit the service was supporting 14 people.

A registered manager was in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Kare Plus registered as a new service in November 2017. This was their first inspection since registration with CQC.

The service had systems in place to record safeguarding concerns, accidents and incidents and take necessary action as required. Staff had received safeguarding training and confirmed this when we spoke with them.

Risk assessments had been developed to minimise the potential risk of harm to people during the delivery of their care. These had been kept under review and were relevant to the care provided.

Staff knew people they supported and provided a personalised service. Care plans were organised and had identified care and support people required to suit their individual needs. We found they were informative about care people had received. They had been regularly reviewed and changes made when required so they were up to date. Staff had the right information to reflect people’s changing needs and tasks required when visiting people in their own home.

The registered manager provided training and reviewed staff skills to ensure they administered medicines safely. The registered manager regularly completed a medicines audit to assess the safety of related procedures.

Kare Plus had safe infection control procedures in place and staff had received infection control training. Staff spoken with confirmed they had been provided with protective clothing such as gloves and aprons as required. This reduced the risk of cross infection when providing personal care.

Care plans seen confirmed people's dietary needs had been assessed and support and guidance recorded.

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 support this practice.

People supported by staff at Kare Plus told us they were treated with respect, dignity and by caring staff. A person we visited who used the service said, “They have been very good to me. They are always caring and will do anything that helps me.”

People who used the service knew how to raise a concern or to make a complaint. The service had kept a record of complaints received and these had been responded to appropriately.

The service used a variety of methods to assess and monitor the quality of the service. These included, quality assurance calls, satisfaction surveys (first one due to be completed) and care reviews. People supported by Kare Plus confirmed they has regular contact from the management team to ensure they were happy with the service.

The registered manager and staff were clear about their roles and responsibilities and from talking with them we found they were striving to keep providing a good standard of care and support to people in their care.