Archived: Allcare Community Care Services

Allcare is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to 78 people living in their own houses and flats in the Southport area of Merseyside. The service also provides care and support to 14 people living in ‘supported living’ houses in the Manchester and Greater Manchester areas. People had different support arrangements. Some people lived alone with staff; others lived with up to three other people with staff support on a 24-hour basis.

People using the service were of different ages and included those with a learning disability and/or autism, as well as people living with dementia or other health and care needs.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (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.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

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

People and family members spoke positively about the service and told us staff were professional, helpful and kind. Positive relationships had been developed between staff and people they supported. People said calls to their home were never missed and that staff usually arrived on time. Everyone said they would recommend Allcare to others.

People using the service and staff were involved in the development of their care through regular reviews meetings and surveys. The latest survey showed that people were satisfied with their care. People told us they either had no complaints or were confident they would be listened to if they did.

Most of the management team completed quality audits on a monthly basis and we saw that actions were identified and addressed to bring about improvements. However, we found that this was not consistently completed across all of the service. Not all of the people who received a service from Allcare were offered the opportunity to provide feedback on their service.

We have made a recommendation about quality assurance practices.

People’s care records provided detailed information about individual backgrounds and their support needs, to guide staff effectively. The service worked with a variety of professionals to maintain people’s health and wellbeing.

Staff had been recruited safely. There were sufficient numbers of staff employed to support people. Vacant shifts and calls because of absence were covered from within the staff teams. Agency staff were not used. Staff received regular training and support. Staff told us they enjoyed working for the service; however, recent issues related to delayed payment of wages and pension had impacted on their morale.

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.

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 24/03/2017). Since this rating was awarded the registered provider of the service has altered its legal entity. We have used the previous rating to inform our planning and decisions about the rating at this inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

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