The Care Quality Commission
  • Services in your home
  • Homecare service

Archived: The Care Company

1A Pickhill Business Centre, Smallhythe Road, Tenterden, Kent, TN30 7LZ (01580) 762202

Provided and run by:
Mrs. Victoria Joan Burke

Important: This service is now registered at a different address - see new profile

All Inspections

26 February 2014

During a routine inspection

We visited the office and spoke with the registered manager and five members of staff. We also spoke with five people who used the service and six relatives on the telephone after the inspection, and with three members of staff.

People told us they were able to make decisions and choices about the way their care and support was delivered. People confirmed that they had been involved in decisions about their care and support before they started receiving a service, and that the service made regular checks that their care still met their needs.

People's needs and preferences were set out in their individual care records. The information provided staff with guidance about how to meet people's needs in the ways they preferred. People told us staff followed the guidance. One person told us 'they do things the way I like it'.

People told us that they liked the staff and that staff were kind, caring and respectful. Their comments included 'they need a medal for what they do, the best company out', 'they are most helpful, nice ladies' and '(carer) does everything very professionally'.

The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided. These included systems for gaining the views of the people using it. People and relatives told us they were very satisfied with the service. Their comments included 'I don't know what I'd do without them', 'we have lovely carers, we were very lucky to find them' and 'I think we are having an absolutely first class service and it has been like that for some time'.

The service had systems for responding to complaints. People mostly told us they knew who to contact if they were not happy with anything, none had needed to raise a serious complaint and they said any minor concerns were addressed straight away.

11 July 2012

During a themed inspection looking at Domiciliary Care Services

We carried out a themed inspection looking at domiciliary care services. We asked people to tell us what it was like to receive services from this home care agency as part of a targeted inspection programme of domiciliary care agencies with particular regard to how people's dignity was upheld and how they could make choices about their care. The inspection team was led by a Care Quality Commission inspector joined by an Expert by Experience, who has experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service.

We used telephone interviews and home visits to people who used the service and to their main carers (a relative or friend) to gain views about the service. We visited four people in their own home as part of this review and spoke with them about their experiences of the support they received. We spoke with the manager and senior staff at the time of our visit to the office and with a senior care worker and seven care workers during or after the home visits. We spoke with eighteen people who received a service from this agency and eight relatives over the telephone.

People we spoke with were positive about the staff and felt that they fully supported their care needs. People said that all the staff spoke with them in a calm and respectful way and respected their privacy.

People spoken with told us that their care was personalised to their needs. One said, 'It's very good, we haven't got any complaints'. People said their preferred names were always used.

Most people could not recall the detail of their care plan, but were aware of their care folder or had read their care plan at sometime. They told us they and sometimes their family, had been involved in discussions about their care, when the service had first started.

People felt that staff had received training and had the necessary skills in order to meet their needs. One said, 'They (the staff) are very skilled'.

People told us that they felt safe when they used the service and if they had concerns they would speak with a family member or somebody from the office. Most people thought they had not been formally asked for their views on the service provided, or at least not for sometime, but confirmed senior staff occasionally visited and usually asked if everything was alright. One said, 'Senior staff come round and work with other staff to check everything is OK'.