Sync Alliance Healthcare

Updated 20 June 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an Expert by Experience contacted relatives by telephone to gain feedback about their experiences of using the service. An Expert by Experience is someone who has had experience of using or supporting someone who uses with this type of care support service.

Service and service type:

Sync Alliance Healthcare is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes.

The service did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) at the time of the inspection visit. A new manager had been appointed and was in the process of applying to register with CQC. This means the provider is legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small, and the provider is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

We visited the office location on 21 May 2019 to see the provider, and to review care records. Telephone calls were also made to relatives on the 21 May 2019 to gain their feedback.

What we did:

We reviewed information we had received about the service since they were registered with us. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as allegations of abuse and we sought feedback from the local authority and other professionals who work with the service. We assessed the information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection visit.

We contacted two relatives by telephone to gather their views on the service being delivered. We also spoke with the registered provider and one staff member. We reviewed a range of documents and records including the care records of two people, two staff files and training records. We also looked at records that related to the management and quality assurance of the service.

Updated 20 June 2019

About the service:

Sync Alliance Healthcare is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service supported two people.

People’s experience of using this service:

Staff had not been recruited safely as the registered provider had not ensured all the required checks had been undertaken before staff commenced work at the service. These checks are required to ensure staff were suitable for their role. This was a breach of the regulation.

The systems to check the quality of the service provided for people were not consistently effective and required some improvement.

Relatives told us their family members felt safe when supported by staff. They told us their family members received a consistent and reliable service which met their needs. Staff reminded people to take their medicines which enabled them to take them on time. Staff wore gloves and aprons to ensure they protected people from cross infection.

Staff were aware of how to keep people safe from potential risk of harm. Risk assessments were in place and staff knew how to support people’s individual needs. Relatives confirmed they and their family members were involved in the assessment process. This ensured the service provided could meet people’s needs.

Staff received an induction when they started work to enable them to gain skills for their role. If required staff supported people to access healthcare services, and they monitored people’s wellbeing. People, as much as practicably possible, had choice and control of their lives and staff were aware of how to support them in the least restrictive way.

Relatives described staff as polite, kind and caring. Relatives confirmed to us that staff encouraged people’s independence, protected their privacy and treated them with dignity. Relatives confirmed people were supported by staff who knew their preferences.

Relatives told us they were happy with the service provided to their family members, and they knew who to contact if they had any concerns. Feedback was actively sought about the quality of the care being provided.

Staff felt supported in their roles, and relatives were happy with the way the service was being managed.

Rating at last inspection:

This was the first inspection of the service since they registered with CQC.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection. The site visit took place on the 21 May 2019 and telephone calls were made to people using the service on the 21 May 2019.

Enforcement:

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of the full report.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner

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