Ami Home Care Limited was rated Good overall at its first inspection, with safe, effective, caring and responsive services all rated Good; however, the well-led domain was rated Requires Improvement due to auditing systems failing to identify record-keeping discrepancies and incomplete medicines information in care records. The provider responded promptly to all issues raised during inspection and demonstrated commitment to strengthening monitoring processes.
Concerns (4)
moderateGovernance: “Monitoring processes had not always been robust in identifying shortfalls to be addressed.”
minorRecord keeping: “it was not clear how many visits they had received over a period of one week...Other visits for this person had been clearly documented.”
minorMedication management: “for people receiving support with their medicines a list of all their medicines was not included in the care records”
minorCare planning: “The discrepancy with one person's care record information had not been picked up and again was addressed promptly at the time of our inspection.”
Strengths
· People and relatives confirmed staff kept people safe and treated them with respect and dignity
· Robust risk assessments identified individual and environmental risks
· Consistent staffing provided continuity of care with same care workers for each person
· Staff completed the Care Certificate and received training including moving and handling, medicines management and safeguarding
· Care plans were personalised and included religious, cultural and lifestyle information
Quality-Statement breakdown (17)
safe: Safeguarding policies and procedures in place; staff knew reporting proceduresGood
safe: Risk assessments thorough, covering individual, environmental and lone working risksGood
safe: Recruitment checks carried out including DBS, references and employment historyGood
safe: Sufficient staffing with continuity of care workers for each personGood
safe: Medicines managed via blister packs and MARs; staff trained before supporting with medicinesGood
safe: Infection control procedures followed; PPE supplied and usedGood
effective: Needs assessments carried out prior to care commencement; person-centred care plans producedGood
effective: Staff completed Care Certificate and induction training; shadowing before lone workingGood
effective: Nutrition and hydration monitored; concerns escalated to provider and next of kinGood
Ami Home Care Limited received an overall Good rating across all five key questions at its May 2021 inspection, with well-led improving from Requires Improvement. The service demonstrated personalised, person-centred care, robust medicines management, effective governance systems, and strong cultural and linguistic matching of staff to the diverse client group.
Strengths
· People felt safe and staff responded appropriately to safeguarding alerts and allegations of abuse, working with external agencies.
· Medicines were administered safely with monthly audits, competency assessments, and clear guidance for high-risk and medicated creams.
· Staff were well trained, inducted through shadowing, and received regular supervisions, appraisals and team meetings.
· Personalised care plans were co-produced with people and their representatives and regularly reviewed.
· Provider matched staff to people by language and cultural background, supporting an ethnically diverse client group.