Prioritising People's Lives - Alnwick

Updated 10 March 2022

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 and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

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

This inspection was announced. We gave a short notice of the inspection because we wanted to contact people to gather their views and needed their consent to do that, and also to ensure the registered manager would be in the office when we attended.

Inspection activity started on 4 November 2021 and ended on 18 November 2021. We visited the office location on 18 November 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority commissioning and safeguarding teams and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

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 five relatives and one person who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the nominated individual, registered manager, branch manager, supervisor and one support worker. Four support workers emailed us with feedback about working at the service. We also contacted three care managers for their feedback. All responses were used to support the inspection process.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records, medicines’ records, two staff files in relation to recruitment and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, training information and audits.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 10 March 2022

About the service

Prioritising People’s Lives - Alnwick is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people living in their own homes within Northumberland.

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

There was a strong, visible and person-centred culture at the service. People and relatives were extremely positive about the caring nature of staff. Staff used inclusive ways of involving people in their care . People were consulted, listened to and valued. Comments from relatives included, “My mum says she feels part of their family” and “I feel that the service is adaptable, and nothing comes to mind about any improvements needed. The service is outstanding.”

People told us they felt safe with the staff who supported them. Risks were assessed and monitored via an electronic care management system. Management staff received an instant alert if there were any late visits or missed medication so immediate action could be taken.

People were cared for by a consistent team of staff. This meant that people were supported by staff who knew people well and understood their needs and preferences. There were sufficient staff deployed to meet people’s needs. People told us there had been no missed calls and staff turned up on time.

People were supported by trained and competent staff. One relative told us, “I think they are well trained as they are fantastic.”

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff assisted 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

This service was registered with CQC on 12 June 2020 and this was the service's first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the amount of time the service had been registered.

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.