About the service:

Alpha May is a small domiciliary care provider that was providing personal care to two people with physical support needs in their homes, at the time of the inspection.

Not everyone using Alpha May received the regulated activity ‘Personal care’ that CQC inspects, which includes support with personal hygiene, eating and drinking. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us they felt safe with staff. Risks to people were identified and reviewed regularly with people, their relatives and health and social care professionals.

People received support from the same staff each week which meant care was provided consistently. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and no care calls had been missed since the service opened.

Staff were recruited safely. They had a good understanding of safeguarding, potential signs of abuse and of who they would need to report any concerns to.

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 processes in the service supported this practice.

People, their relatives and a professional told us that staff had a thorough knowledge of them and their needs. Staff received regular supervision and spot checks to support them within their role.

People had access to health and social care professionals to improve their well-being. Staff supported them where necessary to appointments and had effective communication with professionals. People’s nutritional and hydration needs were also met.

Everyone we spoke to was consistent in their views that staff were kind, caring and respectful towards people. People told us they had built strong relationships with staff who they felt, “Genuinely cared about them.” They said staff took time to get to know them, their preferences and routines and this made them feel valued.

Staff knew people’s communication needs well and regularly sought their views of the service provided. Although no complaints had been received, people told us they knew how to raise concerns and would have no issues doing this with the manager.

People, their relatives, staff and a professional told us the manager had a good understanding of people, was professional and ensured the service was well-led. Although the service was small the manager and provider were aware of what was needed to ensure care remained consistent, as the service grew.

The provider and manager understood the value of working in partnership with others and had already started building relationships with other services, to benefit staff and people.

Rating at last inspection:

This was Alpha May’s first inspection since being registered.

Why we inspected:

We inspected the service as part of our inspection methodology for new services.

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.

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