A comprehensive, announced inspection of took place on the 14 and 16th of September 2016. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice so that we could be sure that someone from the service would be there to greet us.

Alliance Care and Support Limited provide a variety of care and support to people in their own homes. This includes supporting people with personal care needs, shopping, cooking, and companionship. The service also provides 24-hour care within people’s homes, provided by small staff teams doing shifts.

The service has a registered manager in place. 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.

The service has been rated as Good in each of the five domains, with an overall rating of Good.

The registered manager and management team communicated appropriately with other organisations and within the guidance set out with the Registration Act 2009.

The service provided safe care. People using the service could be assured that staff had been through a rigorous employment process and had been safely recruited. People using the service could be confident that care staff had been trained to meet their needs safely and in a timely way.

Care practices were monitored through regular observations, and when needed care workers would receive additional training. Comprehensive risk assessments clearly identified to staff how to manage people’s risks safely whilst promoting choice and independence.

People who use the service described care staff and managers as kind and caring. Care workers knew people’s individual, diverse cultural, religious and gender needs and preferences. Rotas were organised so that people received care from staff that they had been able to develop positive relationships with people.

The service had a system in place that gave a comprehensive overview of care provided each day. Consequently, they were able to ensure that people did not receive a missed visit, inform, and support people if staff were running late due to unforeseen circumstances. People received care for a core care team of staff who knew their needs. They received a weekly rota so that they knew which staff would be coming for each visit. People told us that this was hugely reassuring.

When people’s needs changed, care workers would notify the registered manager and communicate with other health professionals in order to ensure people received the right care and treatment.

The service was run effectively and had good governance systems in place to ensure the quality of care provided was safe, effective and responsive to people’s needs.