Date of assessment: 19 May to 2 June 2025. Alpenbest is a care at home service providing support to people living with a range of needs, including dementia and physical disabilities. At the time of our assessment the service was providing personal care support to 350 people. This assessment was undertaken due to a change in manager and a spike of concerns raised about the quality of care delivery. We reviewed a total of 17 quality statements across all 5 questions. We found no evidence to sustain the concerns raised. We identified minor improvements were required to further strengthen the quality and completeness of people’s care records, ensure safeguarding reporting procedures were accessible to all and ensure an appropriate freedom to speak up guardian was nominated. The management team were open to this feedback and took prompt action after our site visit to address the concerns. Governance systems also needed to be tightened to ensure all safety concerns were reporting to the local authority safeguarding team and all statutory notifications were submitted in line with their CQC regulatory duties. Despite the above, people received safe care that met their needs. There were systems in place to ensure they were supported by care workers that had the skills and knowledge to undertake their duties. Staff received regular training and there were various support structures in place. Staff worked closely with health and social care professionals from several partner agencies. Feedback confirmed there was good partnership working and open communication. Staff were dedicated to developing and improving their practices and had recently launched several projects to further enhance people’s experiences of care. A new manager was in post, who staff confirmed was approachable, accessible and supportive. Staff felt valued and acknowledged.
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Alpenbest is a domiciliary care service rated Good overall with Outstanding well-led following a focused inspection prompted by concerns about staff moving and transferring practices, which the provider had addressed through retraining. The service demonstrated exceptional leadership, strong governance, robust electronic monitoring and person-centred care for 470 people across South West London and Surrey.
Concerns (2)
moderateStaff training: “We received concerns in relation to staffs moving and transferring practices... The provider has learnt lessons by acknowledging mistakes were made and has taken effective action to retrain staff”
moderateIncident learning: “the provider had formally apologised to a family and taken appropriate action to mitigate the risk of similar incidents reoccurring after a local authority safeguarding investigation had substantiated things had gone wrong”
Strengths
· Exceptionally well-led with clear vision and embedded values across the organisation
· Robust electronic monitoring of call times and medicines administration with automatic alerts for late/missed visits
· Strong continuity of care from dedicated, regular staff teams familiar with people's needs
· Comprehensive induction mapped to the Care Certificate and ongoing specialised training (dementia, falls, catheter care)
· Innovative engagement methods including large print care plans, multilingual staff (20 languages) and life story techniques
Quality-Statement breakdown (17)
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseNot rated
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and managementNot rated
safe: Staffing and recruitmentNot rated
safe: Using medicines safelyNot rated
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionNot rated
safe: Learning lessons when things go wrongNot rated
effective: Staff support: induction, training, skills and experienceNot rated
effective: Assessing people's needs and choices; delivering care in line with standards, guidance and the lawNot rated
effective: Supporting people to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced dietNot rated
effective: Supporting people to live healthier lives, access healthcare services and supportNot rated
effective: Ensuring consent to care and treatment in line with law and guidanceNot rated
well-led: Promoting a positive culture that is person-centred, open, inclusive and empoweringNot rated
well-led: Duty of CandourNot rated
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles, and understanding quality performance, risks and regulatory requirementsNot rated
well-led: Continuous learning and improving careNot rated
well-led: Engaging and involving people using the service, the public and staffNot rated
well-led: Working in partnership with othersNot rated