Alina Homecare Bromley

Updated 26 February 2020

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

A single inspector carried out this inspection.

Service and service type

Alina Homecare Bromley is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people with varying needs living in their own homes.

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

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection to ensure the registered manager and staff would be present and available to speak with. The inspection site visit activity started and ended on 27 January 2020.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about 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.

During the inspection

We met and spoke with the registered manager, the provider’s quality assurance manager, care coordinator and three care staff. Following the office visit we spoke with three people and or their relatives by telephone to seek their feedback on the service they received. We reviewed a range of records including four people’s care plans and records and three staff recruitment and training records. We also reviewed records used in managing the service for example, policies and procedures, monitoring records and audits.

Updated 26 February 2020

About the service

Alina Homecare Bromley is a domiciliary care agency. It provides care and support for people living in their own homes and to people living in a purpose-built extra care housing community. Not everyone using Alina Homecare Bromley receives a regulated activity. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with personal care; that is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided. On the day of our inspection the service was providing support to 10 people receiving the regulated activity with a range of health and social care needs.

People’s experience of using this service

People and their relatives spoke positively about staff and told us they were happy with the service they received. There were safeguarding policies and procedures in place and staff had a clear understanding of these procedures. Appropriate recruitment checks took place before staff started work and there were enough staff available to meet people’s care and support needs. Risks to people were assessed to ensure their needs were safely met. The service had procedures in place to reduce the risk of infections.

Assessments of people’s care and support needs were carried out before they started using the service. People received support to maintain good health and were supported to maintain a balanced diet where this was part of their plan of care. 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. Staff had received training and support relevant to people’s needs.

People were treated in a kind, caring and respectful manner and were consulted about their care and support needs and choices. People knew how to make a complaint if they were unhappy with the service. There were procedures in place to make sure people had access to end of life care and support if it was required.

There were robust effective systems in place to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received. The provider took people, their relatives and staff’s views into account and feedback was used to improve the service. Staff said they received good support from the registered manager and provider. The provider worked well with the local community and health and social care professionals to plan and deliver an effective service.

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

Rating at last inspection

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

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on our inspection programme.

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.