19 September 2016
During a routine inspection
Carers Trust Hillingdon is a charity and offers support to people who require help with day to day routines including personal care, a respite care service, companionship, meal preparation, light housework, shopping and accompanying people to appointments and activities. At the time of our inspection there were 50 people receiving personal care. The provider, Carers Trust Thames is an independent registered charity. Carers Trust Thames is a network partner of Carers Trust.
Some aspects of the service had not been monitored effectively so issues had not always been picked up and addressed. Action was being taken to improve the auditing of the service and improve monitoring. The issues identified had not had an impact on people’s care and safety.
Procedures were in place to safeguard people against the risk of abuse. Staff understood the importance of keeping people safe and reporting any concerns.
Risks were being assessed and where required action plans put in place to minimise them. Staff knew the action to take if someone was unwell including summoning the emergency services.
Staff recruitment procedures were in place and being followed. There were enough staff available to meet the needs of people using the service.
Where they were involved with supporting people with medicines, staff understood medicines administration procedures and provided people with the support they needed to take their medicines safely.
Staff received training and supervision to provide them with the knowledge and skills to care for and support each person effectively.
Staff respected people’s rights to make choices about their care and support and knew to act in their best interests.
People were supported to maintain their nutritional intake and were assisted with meals if required.
Staff understood the importance of maintaining people’s health and knew how to access healthcare input if people required it.
People and their relatives were very happy with the service and said staff were kind and treated them with dignity and respect. They said staff took the time they needed to provide the care and support they required.
Care records were person-centred and reflected people’s individual needs and wishes. Staff read and understood these so they could give people the care and support they needed.
People’s care and support was reviewed annually and whenever any changes in their care were identified, so people’s needs continued to be met.
Procedures for raising complaints were in place and people and relatives knew how to raise any concerns so they could be addressed.
People and relatives could contact the service easily and at any time they needed to and said the management team were approachable and supportive. Staff also said the management team were supportive and approachable and enjoyed working for the service.