Alves iCare Ltd

Alves iCare Ltd is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people living in their own houses or flats. It provides a service to older adults, some of whom are living with dementia, younger people and people with a physical disability. At the time of the inspection nine people were supported by the service.

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

Staff had the knowledge and skills to recognise and report any potential harm to people, or the risk of this occurring. Risks to people were identified and managed well. One relative told us, “Staff risk assess situations and prevent unsafe things from happening." Competent staff administered and managed people’s medicines as well as promoting people’s independence to do this themselves.

A robust process helped ensure enough suitable and skilled staff were recruited safely. There were policies and procedures in place which promoted good infection prevention and control (IPC) practices. One person said, "Staff always put their used gloves, mask and aprons in the bin outside when they leave." There was an open culture and lessons were learned and shared amongst the staff team when things went wrong.

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.

The approach to people’s care and support was focused on the needs of the person. Staff respected people's choice of communication and upheld confidentiality. This helped ensure every person was treated equally well. People’s care was compassionate, respectful, and staff promoted independence and privacy as much as possible. One relative said, "Staff are always absolutely lovely, they even stayed a bit longer to ensure my [family member] ate and drank something."

Concerns were acted on before they became a complaint and compliments were used to implement good practice. Policies and procedures were in place for end of life care, and staff ensured people’s end of life care was dignified.

The registered manager understood their responsibilities, and supported staff to promote the provider’s values about being open and honest. People, their relatives and staff had a say in how the service was run and managed. Monitoring systems and oversight of the service were effective in driving improvements. The provider worked well with others involved in people’s care to help ensure their care was joined up.

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 03 July 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the date of registration with CQC.

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

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.