Almond Care Limited

Updated 21 February 2020

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection Team

One inspector carried out the inspection.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency providing 24-hour supported living. It provides nursing and personal care to people living in their own home.

The registered provider of the service is also the manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they are legally responsible for how the service is run and the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave notice of our inspection to the registered manager to ensure they would be available to support the inspection. Inspection activity commenced on 3 February 2020 and ended on 5 February 2020. We undertook a visit to the provider’s office on 4 February 2020.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since our last inspection. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse. We also sought feedback from Clinical Commissioning Groups who were involved in agreeing people’s packages of care between Continuing Health Care and the provider. We used all the information to plan our inspection visit.

During the inspection

We had telephone conversations with nine people and / or their parents to gain their feedback about the services. We spoke with six members of care staff, the care coordinator, the lead clinical nurse, the deputy manager and registered manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included a review of five people’s care plans, medication records, daily care notes and risk management plans. We also looked at records relating to the governance and managerial oversight of the service. These included quality assurance checks, staff recruitment and training records.

Updated 21 February 2020

About the service

Almond Care Limited is registered to provide nursing and personal care to children and adults in their own family home. At the time of the inspection 16 people were supported by the provider. Almond Care Limited provides up-to 24 hour supported living to children and adults with complex health conditions. This includes people with an acquired brain injury, spinal-cord injury, neurological conditions and people who require long-term ventilation.

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

People and their relatives described care and support from staff as good.

Where concerns were raised these were acted on by the registered manager.

There was consistency in which staff supported people, which meant staff knew people well and how to protect them from risks of harm or injury. Risk management plans were available for staff to refer to if needed.

Staff were recruited in a safe way and received an induction. Staff were trained and undertook competency assessments. Specialist training was given to care staff and nurses who used critical care equipment to support people’s physical wellbeing in their home and the community.

People and their relatives felt safe with staff in their homes and protected from the risks of abuse. Staff had received training on how to protect people from the risks of abuse and understood the importance of reporting any concerns.

People had their prescribed medicines available to them and were supported with these as needed by trained care staff. Staff understood the importance of infection prevention and control.

Staff followed professional healthcare guidance and made referrals on behalf of people when needed. People were supported to access healthcare services if required. Staff worked within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and understood the importance of gaining consent from people.

People were supported by staff to meet their nutritional and hydration needs.

Staff demonstrated a caring approach toward people they supported.

People had individual plans of care. There was a strong focus on people’s physical care needs. The registered manager had plans to increase personalised information in people’s care plans to include a holistic approach was taken in care plan records.

People were supported by staff to attend school or take part in activities they enjoyed.

Staff promoted people’s independence and maintained people’s privacy and dignity.

There were systems were in place for people to give their feedback on the service. People and their relatives were involved in planning their care and support.

There were quality assurance systems in place to check the safety and quality of the services.

Rating at the last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published 22 June 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the rating of the last inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our 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