The Care Quality Commission

Archived: Always There (Stoke)

56 Liverpool Road, Stoke On Trent, Staffordshire, ST4 1AZ (01782) 747943

Provided and run by:
Always There Homecare Limited

All Inspections

14 September 2012

During an inspection looking at part of the service

Following our inspection in March 2012, we set compliance actions in a number of outcome areas where we had concerns. We found that there were no clear processes to respond to safeguarding incidents. We also found that how people's medicines were being managed placed people were at risk from harm. The provider had submitted an action plan in response to these concerns.

During this follow up inspection, we spoke with four people receiving a service from the agency and two relatives. We also spoke with five members of staff. The agency did not know we were coming to complete our inspection.

All the people we spoke with told us that they very happy with the care and support they received. One person who needed two carers to provide some of their support told us that 'There are always two, never only one, and always there at the right time.' Another person told us that 'It was a pleasure to see all the carers, they look after me and keep me safe.'

The relatives we spoke to were also very complimentary about the care and support provided. One relative told us that 'The family are very happy and most importantly, xx really likes their carers.'

Our inspection identified that limited progress had been made against the action plan in place. We identified improvements in the reporting and review of safeguarding issues that were helping to keep people safe. Staff training in this area had not been revisited.

There had been no improvements in the how people's medication was managed. The checks and controls in place did not ensure that people received the right medication, at the right time. The planning of support and monitoring required for people with their medication was still unclear. There was no guidance for staff in how to prompt and administer medication prescribed in case of need. The quality of record keeping in this area continued to be poor, making it difficult to check that people's medication was being administered in accordance with their prescription.

Overall, we found that whilst there were systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of care, little action had been taken to review and assess risks and take appropriate action

2 March 2012

During a routine inspection

We carried out this review to check on the care and welfare of people using this service as we had not visited for sometime. We needed to assess whether the service was meeting the essential standards of quality and safety.

This service supports people to live in their own homes and includes older people and young adults. They live mainly in the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire area. Support ranges for one to four or more visits a day, some people have seven day support visits.

We gave 24 hours notice that we intended to visit the office location of the service.

We spoke with two people using the service who told us that they had been very satisfied with the service they had received from Always There Homecare. Staff had always been on time for visits, or telephoned to say if they would be late. There had been no missed calls. People said that they had been treated with respect and that their privacy and their dignity had been respected when being supported for personal care.

One person told us 'I have been having the service for a year and I have no complaints whatsoever about the service or the staff'.

We found that safeguarding referrals had not being acted upon correctly and there had been confusion about safeguarding procedures.

Medication had not been given to a person as prescribed and recording had been inadequate.