Archived: Always Better Care Limited

Updated 25 January 2016

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.

This inspection took place on 2 November 2015 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service to people who are often out during the day; we needed to be sure that someone would be in. On the 20 November 2015 we contacted people to ask them their opinions on the service.

The inspection team consisted of one adult social care inspector.

We looked in detail at the care planning records of three people who used the service. In addition we looked at records in relation to the running of the service, recruitment records, policies and procedures and staff rotas. We spoke with three people who used the service and the three staff who deliver the care and support to people on a daily basis.

Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service including incidents that the registered provider had sent to us since our last inspection.  We contacted the local authority who commission care at the service to obtain their views.  They told us that they are continuing to monitor the service provided at Always Better Care Limited.

Updated 25 January 2016

This was an announced inspection carried out on 2 and 20 November 2015.

Always Better Care Limited is a small domiciliary care agency based in St Helens. It offers care and support to people in their own home including personal care. Support in everyday activities such as shopping can be provided, which helps people to live as independently as possible. The agency has offices based in St Helens close to public transport routes. At the time of this inspection the service was supporting five people with their care and support needs.

A registered manager was in place. A registered manager is a person who is 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 the last inspection of the service in September 2014 we found that the service needed to make improvements in relation to how they managed their records. We re-visited the service in November 2014 and saw that improvements had been made as to how the service managed their records.

During this inspection we saw that improvements were needed as to the timings of staff arriving to deliver people’s care and support. This was because people told us on occasions staff were late which impacted on their day.

Improvements were needed to ensure that all staff had the opportunity to discuss their role formally with their manager on a regular basis.

The registered provider spoke to people on a regular basis whilst delivering their care and support; however, there were no formal system was in place for the registered provider to learn from people’s experiences of the service to improve the quality of the care delivered.

Improvements were needed to ensure that all records within the service were maintained appropriately. This would help ensure that important information is available when needed.

Prior to a service commencing, an assessment of a person’s needs was carried out. This process helps ensure that people’s needs were met safely and in a manner they wanted.

Recruitment procedures were in place to help ensure that only people suitable to work with vulnerable people were employed at the service.

Systems were in place to help ensure that people received their medicines safely.

Staff had received training to help ensure that care and support was delivered safely.

People told us that staff were always respectful when they visited and that they always respected their privacy when delivering personal care.

Each person who used the service had a care plan that detailed their care and support needs. Care plans contained specific information about the individual and important information that staff needed to know about when delivering people’s care and support.

We saw that records were stored appropriately. Locked cabinets were available to ensure that people’s personal information was stored securely. Records stored electronically were password protected.

We have made improvement reccommendations in this report to improve the service. We recommend that staff receive regular opportunities to formally discuss their role with their manager; that the service re-introduces their quality auditing system so that people who use the service have the opportunity to give their comment on the care and support they receive.

We have made reccommendations that the service develops and implements a robust system that ensures that people receive care and support at the times they require.  A further recommendation has been made that records are maintained for the required amount of time.