Archived: Allied Health-Services Southampton

Updated 8 March 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 two inspectors and two Experts 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, in this case services for older people.

Service and service type:

• The service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to adults with a range of care needs.

• Not everyone using the service received regulated activity. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with personal care, that is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

• 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:

• We gave the service three days’ notice of the inspection so the provider could contact people we planned to telephone or visit and make sure they consented to our contacting them.

• Telephone calls and visits with people using the service started on 21 January 2019. We visited the office on 24 January 2019 to see the manager and office staff, and to see care records, policies and procedures. We contacted care workers by telephone on 25 January 2019.

What we did:

• Before the inspection we looked at information we held about the service under its previous registration:

• We require providers to send us key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We call this the Provider Information Return (PIR). This information helps support our inspections.

• The law requires providers to notify us of certain events that happen during the running of a service. We reviewed notifications received under the previous registration.

• We reviewed the previous inspection report.

During the inspection:

• We spoke with four people who used the service in their home.

• We spoke with 17 people who used the service by telephone.

• We spoke with six family members by telephone.

• We spoke with the registered manager, the regional director, the regional quality manager and two care workers.

• We looked at the care records of seven people.

• We looked at six staff records, including training and recruitment records.

• We looked at other records to do with the management of the service.

After the inspection the provider sent us:

• Records relating to the quality assurance process.

Updated 8 March 2019

About the service:

• Allied Health-Services Southampton is a home care service. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting 186 people in their own home. The provider's registration included support for people of all ages, and people with a wide range of needs, physical disability and learning disability.

• For more details, please see the full report which is on the Care Quality Commission website at www.cqc.org.uk.

People’s experience of using this service:

• People received a service that was safe. The provider had processes to manage medicines safely and protect people from risks. There was an early warning system to monitor signs of changing needs.

• People received care and support from staff whose training made sure they had the right skills and knowledge. People’s care and support led to good outcomes.

• Care workers had developed caring relationships with people they supported. They respected people’s dignity and privacy, and promoted their independence.

• People’s care and support met their needs and reflected their preferences. The provider was mindful of people’s human rights.

• Management processes were in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service. There was a positive, open and empowering culture.

Rating at last inspection:

• This was the first inspection following a change of provider on 18 January 2019 which meant the service had a new registration with us.

Why we inspected:

• This was a planned inspection based on the date of the last inspection under the previous provider.

Follow up:

• We did not identify any concerns at this inspection. We will therefore re-inspect this service within the published timeframe for services rated good. We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive.