We carried out a review of the data available to us about Rainbow Medical Services Ltd on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Rainbow Medical Services Ltd, you can give feedback on this service.
Rainbow Medical Services Ltd is a domiciliary care agency. At the time of our inspection they were providing personal care to 31 adults who lived at home. Most people using the service had a range of complex health care needs. Two people received 24-hour care from live-in staff.
People’s experience of using this service
People told us they were happy with the standard of care and support provided by this domiciliary care agency and the way their carers followed the latest infection prevention and control (IPC) guidance including, using personal protective equipment (PPE) correctly.
We were assured the service was following the latest IPC and PPE guidance.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at the last inspection
The last overall rating for this service was good (published 16 October 2020).
Why we inspected
We undertook this targeted inspection to check on a specific concern we had about how the provider prevented and controlled infection. The overall rating for the service has not changed following this targeted inspection and remains good.
CQC have introduced targeted inspections to check specific concerns. They do not look at an entire key question, only the part of the key question we are specifically concerned about. Targeted inspections do not change the rating from the previous inspection. This is because they do not assess all areas of a key question.
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.
Rainbow Medical Services Ltd is a domiciliary care agency. At the time of our inspection they were providing personal care and support to 36 adults who lived at home. Most people using the service had a range of complex health care needs. Two people received 24-hour care from live-in staff.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People told us they were satisfied with the standard of care and support they received from this home care agency. This quote we received from a relative summed up how most people now felt about Rainbow Medical Services Ltd, “We had a few problems in the beginning with lots of different carers turning up, sometimes late or not at all, but since [name of registered manager] has been in charge these issues have ceased.”
People were supported by staff who knew how to prevent and manage risks they might face and keep them safe from avoidable harm. People received continuity of care and support from staff who were familiar with their complex health care needs, wishes and daily routines. Staff were also punctual and the introduction of a 24 hour on call rapid response team helped reduce the risk of staff missing a scheduled visit. New staff continued to undergo all the relevant pre-employment checks to ensure their suitability and fitness for the role. People received their medicines as prescribed. The provider had effective systems in place to assess and respond to risks regarding infection prevention and control, including those associated with Covid-19.
People, their relatives and staff all spoke positively about the way this home care agency was now managed. Since our last inspection the service had appointed a suitably fit, experienced and competent person to manage Rainbow Medical Services Ltd. They recently registered with us in February 2020. The provider’s governance systems were effectively operated, ensuring the quality and safety of the home care service people received was routinely monitored and assessed. The provider also continued to consult people, their relatives and staff as part of their on-going programme of improving the service they provided. The provider worked in close partnership with other health and social care professionals and agencies to plan and deliver positive outcomes for people using the service.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update.
The last rating for this service was good (published 10 October 2017). This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions; Is the service safe and well-led?
Why we inspected
We had specific concerns about the way the service was managed in the past because they did not have a suitably competent person registered with us and there were issues with staff sometimes not arriving on time for their scheduled visits. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions safe and well-led only.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.
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.
This was our first comprehensive inspection of this service since it registered with us on 19 May 2016. This service has been operating for 15 years and was previously registered with us at a different address. We inspected this service under their previous registration and we rated them good at our last inspection on 25 June 2015.
Rainbow Medical Services is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes, many of whom were older people, some of whom were living with dementia. There were 63 people receiving services from Rainbow Medical Services at the time of our inspection.
Rainbow Medical Services provides nursing and care to support people who live across London. The services specialises in providing care to people who have complex health needs.
The service did not have a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run. However, two managers were in post who had both begun the process to register with CQC. One manager was a registered nurse who led on the clinical governance of the service, while the second manager led on operational oversight.
The provider managed people’s medicines safely. The provider had good systems in place to assess, monitor and improve the service. These included revising the recruitment system to ensure only staff who were kind and had a passion for caring for people were selected.
Improved recruitment systems meant the provider also experienced more positive outcomes relating to staff management. Recruiting staff who had the right attributes and interest in caring for people meant incidents of staff misconduct significantly reduced. The provider also had excellent systems in place to listen to staff, gather feedback and act on it to improve the service, with good systems in place to gather feedback from people using the service. The provider had a range of audits in place to check the quality of service including accredited award schemes to audit the service. The provider also had excellent systems in place to recognise and reward staff, which meant staff felt motivated to provide high quality care to people.
The provider identified risks to individuals and put robust risk management plans in place to guide staff in mitigating risks to individuals, incorporating guidance from external professionals. This meant risks to people were reduced. However, the provider did not always follow best practice in carrying out and recording risk assessments according to a five step procedure, but told us they would standardise and improve their processes. Care plans informed staff about people’s individual needs, and the best ways for staff to care for them.
People were supported by staff who were recruited following robust procedures to check they were suitable to work with them. There were enough staff deployed to meet people’s needs.
People felt safe when staff cared for them and staff understood how to respond if they suspected anyone was being abused, receiving training from the provider each year to refresh their knowledge.
Staff understood their responsibilities to provide care to people in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The provider assessed people’s capacity to consent to their care and took measures to provide care in people’s best interests when they lacked capacity to consent.
The provider supported staff with a comprehensive programme of induction, training, supervision and annual appraisal. Staff were encouraged to complete diplomas in health and social care. The provider was trialling a staff reward system based around completion of diplomas in health and social care and length of service. In addition, the provider ensured staff completed specialist training to meet people’s particular clinical needs.
People received the necessary support from staff in relation to eating and drinking and receiving sufficient nourishment when they required specialist equipment to eat and drink. The provider also catered to people’s ethnic and cultural needs in relation to eating and drinking when necessary. People were supported by staff to access the healthcare services they needed where this was part of their care package.
Staff treated people with kindness, dignity and respect and respected their privacy. Staff understood the needs of the people they were caring for as well as their backgrounds, interests and preferences. Staff involved people in their care and supported people to maintain their independence.
People received care which met their needs and preferences. The provider involved people in reviewing their care and ensured information in care plans remained current and reliable for staff to follow.
The provider had systems in place to investigate and respond to complaints appropriately. However, they did not always record the action taken and reassured us they would review their systems to ensure all relevant details were recorded.