Background to this inspection
Updated
14 May 2019
The inspection: We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team: The inspection team consisted of one adult social care 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 for older people. Their area of expertise was in older people’s care. The expert by experience telephoned a sample of people and their relatives to check if people were happy with their care and support.
Service and service type: Alexandras Community Care is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes in the community. This includes people with physical disabilities and dementia care needs. The service mainly provides personal care for people in short visits at key times of the day to help people get up in the morning, go to bed at night and support with meals.
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 comprehensive inspection took place on 16 April 2019 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours notice of the inspection visit because it is a domiciliary service and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that we could access the office premises to look at records and arrange to visit people in their own homes.
What we did: Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service and notifications of incidents we had received. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law.
During the inspection:
• We visited two people in their own homes.
• We met and spoke with six care staff, the registered manager, the responsible individual and the administrator.
• We telephoned five people using the service and five relatives.
information we reviewed:
• Three people’s care records.
• Records of accidents, incidents, compliments and complaints.
• Staff recruitment records.
• Audits and quality assurance reports.
After the inspection information we reviewed:
• Staff training matrix.
• Staff supervisions matrix.
• The provider’s business continuity plan.
• Medication policy and adverse weather policy.
Updated
14 May 2019
About the service:
Alexandras Community Care is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes in the community. When we inspected the service was providing the regulated activity, personal care, to approximately 37 people in and around the Truro area in Cornwall.
People’s experience of using this service:
¿ People using the service consistently told us they felt safe and staff treated them in a caring and respectful manner. Comments included, “They are all very capable” and “I feel very comfortable with all my carers, they are all wonderful.”
¿ Staff supported people to make decisions about their care and they were involved in their care plans. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
¿ People were supported by a stable staff team who had the skills and knowledge to meet their needs. Staff spoke passionately about the people they supported and were clearly committed to providing a responsive and caring service in line with people’s wishes.
¿ People were supported to access healthcare services, staff recognised changes in people's health, and sought professional advice appropriately.
¿ Assessments were carried out to identify any risks to the person using the service, the environment and to the staff supporting them. People had agreed the times of their visits and were kept informed of any changes. No one reported ever having had any missed visits.
¿ Staff told us they were well supported and had a good working relationship with each other and the management team.
¿ People and staff were asked for their views of the service to help drive improvement. Spot checks of staff working practices were carried out by senior staff.
¿ The registered manager and management team used various methods to assess and monitor the quality of the service. These included the call monitoring system, staff meetings, spot checks, auditing of the service and surveys to seek people’s views about the service provided. All feedback was used to make continuous improvements to the service.
Rating at last inspection: This was the first inspection for the service since it re-registered at a new address in May 2018.
Why we inspected: This inspection was a scheduled comprehensive inspection carried out within the time frame for a newly registered service.
Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.
The full details can be found on our website at www.cqc.org.uk