Archived: London Care (Harlow)

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us they received a good service and felt safe. Accidents and incidents were recorded and analysed, and risk assessments were in place. We made a recommendation to strengthen risk assessments.

There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and the registered manager followed established recruitment procedures to ensure staff employed were suitable for their role. Following the previous inspection travel time had been introduced in between calls to ensure staff stayed for the full time. People received their prescribed medicines safely. Lessons were learnt from when mistakes happened.

People’s needs and choices were assessed and their care provided in line with their preferences. Staff received an induction and on-going training to ensure they could provide care based on current best practice when supporting people. People's consent was gained before any care was provided, and they were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives.

Staff provided support to people when needed to make sure they received continuing healthcare to meet their needs. People received support from caring staff who respected their privacy, dignity and the importance of maintaining their independence.

The registered manager was very visible at the service and spent a lot of time working with people and staff to ensure quality care was being provided by the service.

Rating at last inspection: Good (report published 23/11/2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. During this inspection we found evidence continued to support the rating of good. More information is in the full report.

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

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. 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 provider did not have adequate systems and policies in place to ensure that staff were provided with travel time to enable them to provide all of people’s commissioned care. Staff had developed strategies to try and overcome this to minimise the affect on the timing of people’s calls. However, this resulted in staff working additional hours unpaid or in people receiving shorter care visits than those that had been commissioned.

People were actively involved in decisions about their care and support needs. There were formal systems in place to assess people’s capacity for decision making under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Staff provided people with information to enable them to make an informed decision and encouraged people to make their own choices.

People received safe care and support from staff that understood their role in safeguarding people and who knew how to report concerns. There were enough staff with the right skills and attitudes to meet people’s needs.

Staff had a full understanding of people’s support needs and had the skills and knowledge to meet them. Training records were up to date and staff received regular supervisions and appraisals. Staff were clear about their roles and responsibilities in caring for people and received regular support from the provider.

People’s care records contained risk assessments and risk management plans to mitigate the risks to people. They gave information for staff on the identified risk and informed staff on the measures required to minimise any risks. Staff were vigilant regarding people’s changing health needs and sought guidance from relevant healthcare professionals.

People could be assured that their complaints would be managed appropriately. Staff were aware of the importance of managing complaints promptly and in line with the provider’s policy. Where complaints had been made these were responded to promptly.

The provider and registered manager had systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service. People and staff were encouraged to provide feedback about the service and it was used to drive continuous improvement.

People said their support needs were met and they had confidence in the staff members who visited them. Comments from the people we contacted by telephone included, "They do what I need them to do, which is good" and 'I usually get the same care worker; they are seldom late and the office lets you know if there is a problem like traffic".

People who used the service did not tell us about the agency's safeguarding procedures. They did tell us they were satisfied with the support they had received and that it was given safely. They said that the staff were kind, honest, and that they felt safe under their care.

Training records showed that most staff had completed recent training, such as moving and handling and safeguarding awareness.

People we spoke with told us that they felt listened to and were happy with the quality of service provided. One person told us, 'If there is anything wrong we only have to pick up the phone and they sort it.' And another person said, 'They would make whatever changes they could where possible'.

We carried out a further inspection on 16 January 2013. This was to check that the provider had made the improvements detailed in the plan submitted to us following the report of our visit in August 2012. We looked at five care plans and were satisfied that these were personalised and that all relevant risk assessments had been completed.

We spoke with two people and the relatives of two other people who used the service. All the people we spoke with were happy with the care provided. One relative said, "The staff are wonderful. One goes above and beyond what is asked of her." Another person told us, "The staff are very helpful. I am very satisfied."