About the serviceActive Care & Support Ltd is a domiciliary care service which provides personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection there were 90 people using the service. Everyone using the service lived within the London Borough of Brent and had their service commissioned by the local authority.
People's experience of using this service
People said they felt safe using the service. There were effective systems to minimise risks and there was information to guide care workers when delivering support to people, including how to reduce identified risks.
There were systems in place to ensure proper and safe use of medicines. People received their medication safely. People were also protected from the risks associated with poor infection control.
Care workers had been recruited safely. There were sufficient care workers deployed to keep people safe. An electronic scheduling, monitoring system was in place to manage staff shifts and absences.
People's needs were assessed, before support plans and risk assessments were drawn up. Agreed goals of care were delivered in line with standards, guidance and the law. People received support that met their individual needs. Care workers were knowledgeable about people’s needs. They could describe to us how people liked to be supported.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
People's privacy and dignity was respected. People told us that care workers treated them with respect and kindness. People felt that care workers treated them fairly, regardless of age, gender or disability. Practical provisions had been made to support people’s diversity, including gender preferences.
People were supported, if needed, to express their views and preferences in relation to their care and support. The service identified and recorded how people wished to communicate and their communication needs.
There was a complaints procedure, which people and their relatives were aware of.
There were methods of monitoring the quality of the service in place. Regular checks and audits had been carried out.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was Good (published 03 May 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a routine comprehensive inspection and in line with our timescales to inspecting Requires Improvement rated services.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.