Archived: Amore Social Care Limited

Amore Social Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. The service caters for children (13-18), younger adults and older people with needs relating to dementia, learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and mental health. Not everyone using Amore Social Care receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of the inspection 10 people were receiving personal care.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

People received the care and support when required and at their preferred times and were supported to follow their interests and take part in activities in their local community. Staff with similar interests supported people wherever possible. People who received a service said this was important to them; one person described their support worker as “Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.”

Staff had been recruited safely and were specifically recruited to work with a person. Where possible the person was involved in the recruitment and interview process. Staff were supported through induction, regular supervision and ongoing training relevant for their role.

People's needs were assessed before they started using the service. People had personalised support plans in place, which identified what people could do for themselves and where staff support was needed.

People were supported to maintain good health and wellbeing by accessing healthcare when needed. Staff accompanied people to appointments when required.

People made their own choices about what they ate and drank and were supported by staff with meal preparation; staff ensured people had enough to eat and drink.

People were involved in planning their support. Regular meetings took place for staff and people using the service, to listen to their suggestions and include them in the development of their care.

Managers and staff at Amore worked closely with social care and health care professionals. Feedback received was positive.

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 requires improvement (published 12/2/2019) and there were two breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

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.

Amore Social care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. The service caters for children (10-18), older people and younger adults with needs relating to dementia, learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and mental health. Not everyone using Amore Social Care receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of the inspection 14 people were receiving personal care.

The service had a registered manager. 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.'

We found two breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 in relation to good governance and safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment.

We found that there had been occasions when the use of restraint was not always proportionate and did not always follow care file restraint protocol. At times, from records we saw, it appeared restraint was used before any efforts were made to diffuse the situation. There was also no oversight from the registered manager regarding the use of restraint. The manager agreed to address this issue immediately.

We found that the registered manager was not fully up to date with her knowledge regarding the Mental Capacity Act. On the first day of the inspection, relevant legal paperwork was not available to view, although we did get to see this before the end of the inspection. The registered manager was not aware that the service would need to complete mental capacity assessments as required. The registered manager and staff had not completed Mental Capacity Act training at the time of the inspection, but this has since been arranged.

We found that audits were in place, but these were not always effective at identifying issues and learning opportunities. Audits also lacked any clear action plan with how issues were going to managed, and there was no follow up to monitor if these issues had been resolved.

People told us that staff treated them in a caring way and respected their privacy and supported them to maintain their dignity. The delivery of care was tailored to meet people's individual needs and preferences.

People told us they felt safe with the care provided by staff. Staff we spoke with understood their responsibility in protecting people from the risk of harm. Staff told us they had received training that had helped them to understand and support people.

Policies set out that when a safeguarding incident occurred management needed to take appropriate action by referring to the relevant safeguarding agency. However, an incident had not been reported to us at the time the service had been aware of them, as legally required.

Staff Recruitment procedures were in place to protect people receiving personal care from unsuitable staff.

The registered manager and the management team had created an open and supportive culture in the home. Staff and people using the service told us they felt the managers were approachable and accommodating.

You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.