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Tania Brown Limited

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Unity House, Westwood Park Drive, Wigan, WN3 4HE (01257) 473967

Provided and run by:
Tania Brown Limited

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of assessment: 30 March to 1 June 2026.

Tania Brown Limited is registered with CQC as a domiciliary care service, however, they are a case management company who provide case management and specialist clinical services for both adults and children.They provide services across the country for people with life changing, chronic and degenerative neurological conditions, including people who have sustained serious or catastrophic injuries such as brain injury and spinal cord injury. Each person using the service has a direct relationship with a case manager who coordinates their care, support and rehabilitation. Tania Brown Limited are owned by the Active Care Group, however, are operated as a separate entity.

At the time of our inspection 52 people were using the service, although only 8 people were in receipt of the regulated activity of personal care, and included in this assessment. Personal care is help or support with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating.

The service was exceptionally well led, by a registered manager and clinical lead, for whom positive feedback was provided by case managers and professionals working with the service. The management team placed people at the centre of the service, which was in line with the provider’s visions and values. Constructive and effective working relationships had been formed, with regular communication provided to ensure people’s wider support networks were up to date with people’s care and rehabilitation. There was a positive culture at the service, with case managers feeling empowered to speak up and challenge practice or decisions. Audits and governance processes were completed regularly, with processes in place to monitor and drive improvements.

People received safe care. Case managers and support workers were trained and received ongoing supervision and support to ensure they could carry out the roles safely and effectively. Accidents and incidents were recorded, investigated and reviewed to help prevent recurrence. Safeguarding policies were up to date and concerns had been escalated timely and in line with guidance. Risks to people had been assessed, with clear guidance in place for how these would be mitigated. Medicines were managed safely.

Detailed assessments had been completed when people were referred to the service, these helped form the care and rehabilitation plan which support workers would follow. The provider encouraged and promoted good practice, with management team members taking active roles in professional case management organisations, to help improve the service. People’s nutrition and hydration needs had been met, with modified diets provided safely. People’s consent was sought, and where they lacked capacity, the best interest process had been used. People’s health needs were met, with access to a range of medical and therapy professionals facilitated.

People and relatives spoke positively about the standard of care provided. Case managers effectively coordinated people’s support, ensuring they and their families, were fully involved in all decision making. People’s needs and wishes were met, and they were supported to set and achieve goals.

The service provided high-quality, person-centred care, with case managers striving to ensure people achieved the best outcomes possible. Effective partnership working and collaboration with others was essential in achieving this. People’s views were sought through regular review meetings and annual questionnaires. Information was provided in an accessible way and care records detailed peoples communication needs clearly, to ensure these would be met. People were supported to access aids and equipment to make their lives easier and promote independence.

16 July 2018

During a routine inspection

Tania Brown provides Case Management, rehabilitation and specialist clinical services for both adults and children in addition to an expert witness service for the courts along with specific services for independent and statutory sectors including the NHS.

The organisation offers a nationwide service with consultant clinicians and case managers located across the country, all of whom are highly trained with considerable expertise to work alongside adults and children with complex physical, emotional and social needs.

Tania Brown is a domiciliary care service offering a wide range of specialist community services on a nationwide basis for people with life changing, chronic and degenerative neurological conditions in addition to specialist services for people who have sustained serious or catastrophic injuries such as brain injury and spinal cord injury.

Services are also provided for people who have sustained serious multiple orthopaedic injuries including amputation as well as services for people with chronic pain conditions and those suffering from industrial disease. At the time of our inspection 76 people were using the service across the whole country.

Not everyone using Tania Brown receives a regulated activity; Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with CQC 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 registered manager was extremely dedicated, enthusiastic and knowledgeable. They were very visible in the team and proactive throughout the inspection in demonstrating how the service operated and how they worked closely with other health and social care professionals to lead improvements in the service. Feedback about the service from other professionals was overwhelmingly positive and complimentary.

The management team had incredible oversight by scrutinising all areas before issues occurred, which showed they had strong control measures in place. Staff confirmed the management team were keen to listen to their ideas and encouraged them to raise any concerns.

People told us they felt safe because of the care and support they received. The service had comprehensive safeguarding policies and procedures in place and all staff had received training in safeguarding vulnerable adults and children which was regularly refreshed and demonstrated an excellent understanding of how to report both safeguarding and whistleblowing concerns. Staff were confident any concerns raised would be actioned by management.

During this inspection, we found multiple examples to demonstrate the staff and management team were passionate about providing an innovative, excellent service. People were provided with a service that was bespoke to them and they were fully involved in identifying their needs and goals to be achieved for the future.

To ensure outstanding care and consistency continued to be delivered, the service completed regular monitoring, spot checks and formal audits of service provision. The management team also worked alongside staff to provide support and complete additional observations of practice; staff received high levels of support to enable them to provide outstanding care. In depth induction training was provided upon commencing employment and ongoing refresher training, regular supervision, team meetings and appraisals were also provided.

All staff were viewed as being an integral part of the service and were very much involved in providing feedback on how to improve the service. Staff were highly motivated and proud of their work, had in-depth training and we observed they demonstrated their understanding in practice by continuously promoting a highly inclusive environment. It was very clear they respected each person's rights and treated them as individuals and they were not afraid to display their love towards people.

People we spoke with were complimentary about the support they received to ensure medicines were taken when required and as prescribed. We saw the service carried out audits of medicine administration record (MAR) charts each month to ensure medicines had been administered and documentation completed correctly. All staff administering medicines had received training and had their competency assessed.

People’s relatives were, without exception, highly complimentary about the service and told us that they and [their relatives] always felt involved and could ask questions, say how they wanted to be supported, and felt valued as a result. This approach ensured the person was central to everything the service did and ensured they were in control of their own lives. The care records we saw showed people had signed agreeing to the support they would be receiving.

Our discussions with staff showed that they had a detailed and in-depth understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and staff had received training in the MCA and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) which was offered to all staff within the service. The registered manager told us that if they had any concerns regarding a person's ability to make a decision they worked with the local authority to ensure appropriate capacity assessments were undertaken. This was in line with the Mental Capacity Act (2005) Code of Practice.

We saw robust recruitment procedures were in place to ensure caregivers working for the service met the required standards. This involved a Disclosure and Baring Service (DBS) check, at least two references and full work history documented. We saw medicines were managed safely and effectively, with detailed guidance in place for care staff to ensure they knew what medicines people took and why. People were involved in regular reviews of their medicines to ensure their continuing therapeutic value and to reduce any unnecessary medicines.

We saw that people's care plans and needs were regularly reviewed which was completed with the involvement of people, their relatives and other associated health and social care professionals. Multidisciplinary meetings were regularly held to discuss people’s progress.

There was an up-to-date complaints policy in place and people who used the service and their relatives told us they knew how to make a complaint. Feedback on how the service was managed and the culture within the team was very positive. There had been no complaints received from anyone who used the service, their relatives or any other associated health and social care professionals.

Systems were in place to monitor the service and identify where improvements could be made.

The service had a business continuity plan in place which included details of the actions to be taken in the event of an unexpected event such as bad weather.

There was a full range of policies and procedures in place which were available in paper copy format and electronically.