Background to this inspection
Updated
3 March 2023
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector and 2 Experts by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The Experts by Experience made telephone calls to people who use the service and their relatives to ask their views on the service.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
Registered Manager
This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.
At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was announced. We gave the service a short period notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 19 January 2023 and ended on 25 January 2023. We visited the location’s office on 24 January 2023.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
During the inspection we spoke with 4 people using the service and 16 relatives of people using the service about their experience of the care provided. We met with the registered manager, deputy manager, care coordinator and 6 care workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included 7 people's care records. We looked at 8 staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, staff training, supervision and audits were also reviewed.
Updated
3 March 2023
About the service
North London Asian Care is a registered charity that provides personal care to people living in their own homes. It provides care and support to adults of all ages, but most of the people using the service at the time of our inspection were older people. The service specialises in providing a service for people from an Asian background but also supports people from all ethnic groups. People receiving a service included those with dementia, mental health issues and physical disabilities. There were 55 people receiving personal care at the time of the inspection.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any
wider social care provided.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found.
The risk assessment and care plans for a person with diabetes did not provide enough information for care workers to ensure safe care.
People using the service and their relatives were happy with the service. They received their care from care workers who got to know their needs well.
Staff completed training relevant to their role. Mandatory training had been completed. Some staff did not have training in certain topics which would enable to ensure consistent effective care. Staff arrived on time and stayed for the agreed amount of time. People had no complaints about timekeeping.
People received good support with their medicines. 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.
There were enough staff to provide the support people needed, at times of their choice. People received compassionate care. Care workers enjoyed their work and felt supported by the service. The service was able to provide most people with care workers who understood their culture, religion and spoke the same language as them. People and their relatives were happy with this service. Staff turnover was low, which supported people to receive consistent care from staff who knew them well.
The management team worked well together and everyone was aware of their responsibilities.
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 requires improvement (published 27 April 2021). There was a breach of legal requirements found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
We carried out a comprehensive inspection of this service on 16 February 2021. A breach of legal requirements was found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Effective, and Well-led. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for North London Asian Care on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Recommendations
We made 2 recommendations. One was to improve the care plans and staff training for people with diabetes, which the registered manager started to do immediately. The other recommendation was to ensure good recruitment practice was followed consistently.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.