Aman Care Limited

Updated 13 June 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The inspection took place on the 02 and 03 May 2018 and was announced. This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because we needed to be sure that someone would be available to meet with us. The inspection team consisted of one inspectors and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is someone who has had experience of working with this type of service.

As part of the inspection process we looked at information we already held about the provider. Providers are required to notify the Care Quality Commission about specific events and incidents that occur including serious injuries to people receiving care and any incidences that put people at risk of harm. We refer to these as notifications. We checked if the provider had sent us notifications in order to plan the areas we wanted to focus on during our inspection. We reviewed regular quality reports sent to us by the local authority to see what information they held about the service. These are reports that tell us if the local authority commissioners have concerns about the service they purchase on behalf of people. We also contacted the local authority for information they held about the service and reviewed the Healthwatch website, which provides information on health and social care providers. This helped us to plan the inspection.

The provider sent us a list of people who used the service who were happy to speak with us. We contacted people and/or their relatives by telephone on 03 May 2018 and spoke with four people and six relatives to gather their views on the service being delivered. We also spoke with the provider, the registered manager and eight care staff. We used this information to form part of our judgement.

We looked at seven people’s care plans to see how their care and treatment was planned and delivered. Other records looked at included seven recruitment files to check suitable staff members were recruited. The provider’s training records were looked at to check staff were appropriately trained and supported to deliver care that met people’s individual needs. We also looked at records relating to the management of the service along with a selection of the provider’s policies and procedures, to ensure people received a good quality service.

Updated 13 June 2018

This inspection took place over two days on 02 and 03 May 2018 and was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice that we would be visiting the service. This was because the service provides domiciliary care to people living in their own homes and we wanted to make sure staff would be available. At the last inspection on 18 and 25 November 2016, we rated the provider ‘Requires improvement’ under the key questions of Safe, Effective and Well-led. During this inspection, we found there had been a significant improvement and we have rated this service ‘Good’ in all five key questions.

Aman Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service supported 115 people.

There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

At our previous inspection in November 2016 we rated the service as 'Requires Improvement' because systems were not effective to assess the quality of the service provided. People were not always supported by staff that had been suitably recruited, or received adequate supervision and training. Although some staff had received training to know what abuse was and how to report any concerns; some staff told us they would record this information within the daily notes. This had the potential to put a person at risk of further harm. Some risks were assessed but staff did not have the information available to refer to in relation to people's medical conditions. Not everyone felt that the provider acted in a timely way when dealing with complaints. On this inspection we found improvements had been made and the overall rating for the service was now Good.

The provider had improved their quality assurance systems and effective quality audit checks were in place and completed regularly to monitor the quality of the service provided. People were happy to recommend the service to family and friends based on their own experiences. The provider had taken steps to ensure they were kept up to date with current legislative practices. People said the service was well run.

The registered manager was passionate about providing person centred care. The leadership within the service had improved and was strong and an open and a positive culture was promoted. Staff said there had been improvements and felt valued and listened to by the provider. Staff were confident in their roles and were aware of their responsibilities and said they had access to support and training they needed.

People felt safe in their homes with staff. Relatives were confident their family members were kept safe. Staff knew what action they would take if they thought a person was at risk of harm. Risks to people were assessed and people were supported by staff that was provided with guidance on how to manage people’s specific medical conditions.

People were supported by sufficient numbers of staff that had been safely recruited. Staff were trained to support people with their medicines if needed. Staff members were equipped with sufficient personal protection equipment to reduce the risk of infection and cross contamination when supporting people with their personal care.

Staff were trained to ensure that they had the skills to support people effectively. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. People were able to make decisions about how they wanted to receive support to ensure their health needs were met. Where appropriate, people that required assistance to eat and drink were effectively supported to do so by staff. Timely referrals were made to health and social care professionals when people’s needs changed.

People’s care and support was planned and reviewed with them and their family members to ensure their choices were followed. People were supported by caring committed staff. People's privacy and dignity were respected and upheld by the staff. People could choose to attend social events arranged by the provider to reduce the risk of social isolation. People’s care plans how they wanted their care delivered and this was reviewed to reflect any changing needs. People and their family members were asked for their feedback on the quality and their experience of the service. There was a system in place to record and investigate concerns and issues were dealt with appropriately.