Able Living Care Services Limited

Updated 6 July 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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. The service provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

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 inspection was announced.

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 20 June 2019 and ended on 24 June 2019. We visited the office location on 24 June 2019.

What we did before the inspection

Before the inspection, we looked at the information we held about the service. This information included statutory notifications the provider had sent to CQC. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection, we visited the registered office and spoke with the registered manager. We also spoke with six people who used the service and with three relatives about their experience of the service. We spoke with a care manager and three care workers.

We looked at the support plans and associated records for two people who used the service. We looked at a range of records relating to how the service was managed; these included staff training, induction and supervision records, quality assurance systems and policies and procedures. We also looked at the responses from the recent customer satisfaction survey.

Updated 6 July 2019

About the service

Able Living Care Service is a domiciliary care service, providing people with care and support in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of the inspection, there were 54 people using the service, 30 of those people were receiving help with personal care.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People told us they were happy with the service they received and felt safe. They said staff were kind and friendly. Safeguarding adults’ procedures were in place and staff understood how to protect people from abuse. Recruitment processes ensured new staff were suitable to work for the agency and people were involved in selecting suitable staff. There were enough numbers of staff deployed to meet people's needs in a punctual, consistent and flexible way and to ensure their safety. People received their medicines when they needed them from staff who had been trained and had their competency checked. The registered manager was developing the competency assessment process. Risk assessments were carried out to enable people to retain their independence and receive support with minimum risk to themselves or others.

People were given 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’s care and support needs were assessed prior to them using the service to ensure their needs could be met. Arrangements were in place to ensure staff received ongoing training, supervision and support. People were supported at mealtimes in line with their support plan and staff worked in partnership with healthcare professionals, when needed.

The values of the service were known to staff and people using the service. Staff told us they received support from management and they felt valued. The culture of the service was open and transparent and people were empowered to voice their opinions. Without exception, people told us the service was well-managed and they would not hesitate to recommend it to others.

Management and staff had developed friendly, caring and respectful relationships with people using the service and their families. Staff knew about people’s backgrounds and about their routines and preferences; this made sure people’s care was tailored to their specific needs. People, or their family members, had been consulted about their care needs and had been involved in the support planning process. People had access to a range of activities in line with their support plan and this area was being developed further. People did not have any complaints about the service they received; they were aware of how they could raise any complaints, concerns and compliments and had access to a complaint’s procedure.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published 01 December 2016).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.