Alina Homecare - Bristol South

Updated 24 September 2021

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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

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

We gave the service a short period of notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the registered manager or provider would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 7th July 2021 and ended on 13th July 2021. We visited the office location on 7th July 2021.

What we did before the inspection

Before the inspection we reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We reviewed CQC notifications. Notifications describe events that happen in the service that the provider is legally required to tell us about.

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

During the inspection

We spoke with nine people who used the service or their relatives about their experience of the care provided. We received feedback from five professionals who had contact with the service. We spoke with 10 members of staff, including the registered manager and nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. Their comments have been incorporated into this report.

We reviewed a range of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures and audits. We looked at four people’s care records and medication records and four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff support.

We considered all this information to help us to make a judgement about the service.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at survey responses, and additional policies and quality assurance records.

Updated 24 September 2021

About the service

Alina Homecare Bristol South is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care and support to people who live in their own homes. At the time of the inspection, the service was providing support to 39 people with a range of physical and mental health care needs.

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 care provided.

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

People were safeguarded from the risk of abuse and felt safe with the staff who supported them.

Systems and processes were in place to safeguard people, and staff understood their responsibilities. Risk assessments were in place to ensure staff kept people safe.

People’s needs and preferences were assessed and documented before they started to receive support from Alina Homecare Bristol South. Care plans contained detailed information to support staff to meet people’s individual needs. These documents reflected people’s preferences and were regularly reviewed with people to ensure they received personalised care. Staff and professionals told us the management team responded to changes in people’s needs quickly to make sure they continued to receive the right support.

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.

There were enough staff employed to meet people’s needs and they received training and support to ensure they provided safe, quality support. Staff were passionate about Alina Homecare Bristol South and the care and support they provided to people.

The culture was person-centred, open and inclusive and aimed to achieve good outcomes for people. People and their relatives were positive about the service and told us about many ways in which staff were caring, considerate and supportive.

People and their relatives knew the management team and found them approachable and flexible. Staff told us the management team were visible and supportive and were passionate about providing a high-quality service. Governance systems and processes were well established and there were regular feedback surveys, spot checks and audits to ensure standards remained high. This monitoring supported the registered manager to review and learn from current performance as well as drive improvement.

Lessons were learned when things went wrong, and actions were taken when necessary. Several relatives and professionals told us effective communication was one of the strengths of Alina Homecare Bristol South. Staff worked closely with other professionals for the benefit of people they supported. This helped to ensure people received a joined-up service which was responsive to their needs.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right Support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. They did this by ensuring the way staff worked with people gave them choice control and independence. In addition, care was person centred and promoted people’s dignity, privacy and human rights and the values and attitudes of staff and managers ensured people were supported to lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives. Examples of this are given in the full report.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 18 March 2020, and this was the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection to check whether the provider was meeting legal requirements and regulations, and to provide a rating for the service as directed by the Care Act 2014.

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.