Athlone Care

During the inspection we found 2 breaches of the regulations in relation to safe care and treatment and good governance. The service was previously rated requires improvement and remains so.

The service provides support to people who live in their own homes. At the time of the assessment 187 people were receiving the regulated activity of personal care. The service supports both younger and older adults. The service also supports adults a learning disability and/or autistic people. We assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ (RSRCRC) guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. We found the service was being provided in line with this guidance and people were being supported to lead positive and dignified lives.

Care plans needed to be improved as there were missing risk assessments and risks where guidance for staff was limited. Care plans and risk assessments varied in quality and did not always give staff clear, up-to-date guidance. Significant concerns were identified in medicines management, including missed or incorrectly timed doses, incomplete guidance for medicines given when required, and recording errors. Governance and auditing systems had not identified or addressed these issues promptly, despite information being available through the provider’s electronic systems. The provider began addressing issues raised during the assessment, but further improvement and stronger oversight were required to ensure everyone consistently received safe, personalised care.

However, the service provided many aspects of care well. Incidents were reported, investigated and action was taken as needed. Staff discussed concerns to learn lessons when things went wrong. Staff worked with partners to share information where appropriate. People were protected from the risk of abuse. Staff knew how to provide people with the support they needed.

There was enough staff to provide support to people. Staff had completed a range of training, and their competency had been assessed. They were well supported and had been recruited safely. Staff worked effectively with health and social care professionals. The provider also demonstrated a strong commitment to staff wellbeing, development and inclusion.Staff felt listed to and valued by the provider and there were mechanisms to gather staff views. Staff told us if they raised concerns, they would be listened to and action taken. Staff were well motivated and told us they enjoyed their role.There was a complaints system in place and mechanism for people and their relatives to feedback about their care.

We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.