The Care Quality Commission
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Archived: Plan Care Putney Also known as Plan Care Putney 30 Putney High Street SW15 1SQ 1-126291449

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

30 Putney High Street, London, SW15 1SQ (020) 8785 1220

Provided and run by:
Taylor Gordon & Co. Limited

All Inspections

24 March 2015

During a routine inspection

This inspection took place on 24 March 2015 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service; we needed to be sure that someone would be in. The service met the requirements of the regulations during the previous inspection which took place on 4 September 2013.

Plan Care Putney is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care for people in their own homes. It has a contract with four local authorities who commission services from it, Wandsworth, Merton, Richmond and Ealing.

There was a registered manager at the service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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.

People using the service and their relatives told us they were satisfied with the care they received from the provider. They told us that care staff had a caring attitude and took care of their personal care needs. People told us staff asked their permission before supporting them and offering them choices with regards to what they would like to eat and wear. They also told us they felt safe in the company of the care staff and if they had any concerns they would not hesitate to raise it with either the care staff or the managers.

Robust recruitment checks were completed on potential applicants and new employees completed a four day induction, introducing them to the company and to the role requirements, including person centred care, safeguarding and health and safety. Staff also completed and demonstrated their competency in supporting people with medicines and safe moving and handling. Staff told us they were satisfied with the quality of training delivered and people also told us that the care staff were competent in carrying out their duties.

An assessment of people’s needs was completed prior to care starting which included risk assessments and finding out peoples preferences and what they hoped to achieve from the service. Care plans were developed and reviewed regularly thereafter and people’s views were sought.

People that we spoke with highlighted that communication from the office could be improved, especially in the case of missed or late visits which was a recurring theme in our conversations with people.

Quality monitoring visits were completed, either through unannounced spot checks of telephone calls to people. Feedback surveys were also sent to people to gather their views of the service.

4 September 2013

During a routine inspection

During our inspection we spoke with people using the service and their relatives by telephone from each local authority contracted with. We randomly chose a sample of people to interview. People told us they felt treated with dignity and respect by the carers who provided them with services. They said "I'm very happy with the carer, she is great". "Staff generally turn up on time and they treat me with respect".

They told us that they discussed their needs and agreed the type of care and support they wanted with the agency and commissioning authority before services began. "I was visited by someone from the agency before the service started".

Most people said the quality of care they received from front line staff in particular was generally good, appropriately provided and normally on time. Some people said there were sometimes issues with staff turning up on time. "They come on time, do what we need them to do and are very good". "Yes I'm very happy at the moment. Every now and then I cancel an appointment and there is a mix up with my call the following day". "An excellent service, I must be honest with you". "I would be lost without her". "The carer does the basics, compared with my last one and is a bit minimalist". One person said "I've only ever refused one carer and the night before last nobody turned up or phoned".

They told us there were enough staff provided to give the care and support they needed.

They did not comment directly on the systems and training staff received to prompt, support medication or the agency quality assurance systems. They did say the office was contactable and contacted them from time to time to check if the service was running to their satisfaction. "The office staff are nice and polite".

We saw there was suitable information provided for people to decide if they wanted the service.

The records were accessible, up to date and they were regularly reviewed.

There was suitable medication training provided for staff that enabled them to promote and support the taking of medication and to administer it.

There were enough trained staff available to provide the service and meet people's needs.

There was an accessible easy to understand complaints policy and procedure.

8 May 2013

During an inspection in response to concerns

We spoke to six people who use the service and they all told us that they felt safe with their carers. Five of the people we spoke with told us that the agency regularly checked with them to ensure they were satisfied and getting the care and support they needed.

Although people said positive things about their carers, two of them expressed concern about how visits were managed by office staff. They told us their concerns were because carers didn't seem to have travel time included in their schedules, so they were normally late and / or had to leave early. This was because they needed to travel between the people they were visiting. They also told us that the agency changed the time that carers came to see them but they weren't told that the time had been changed. This disrupted their routines and sometimes meant their plans were affected.

During our visit, we found that there was insufficient monitoring of visits and that not enough action was taken when carers were late or missed calls due to travel problems. Information that we reviewed from Ealing social services showed the same problems. A number of people had made complaints to the agency due to carers being late or missing visits. Late or missed visits had resulted in delayed or missed personal care, meals and / or medication.

8 January 2013

During a routine inspection

During our visit we did not speak directly with people using the service. Instead we randomly chose people and their families to interview by telephone and looked at questionnaires the service carried out. People told us they felt treated with dignity and respect. They said "I have no complaints at all and am greatful for the service". They discussed the available care options with the service, commissioning authority if applicable and had information provided. This was before agreeing the type of care and support to be provided, how it would be delivered and who would deliver it. They said the quality of care they received from staff was generally good, appropriately provided, on time and they felt safe with the service they received. One person told us "My carer is very kind and compassionate". They did not comment directly on the support staff received from the service or the quality assurance system in place. They did tell us that there was frequent contact with the service to identify that they were satisfied and getting what they needed.

1 June 2011

During a routine inspection

The people we spoke to were generally very positive about the care they received. They said they had regular carers who they were happy with, although there were sometimes problems if their usual carer was away because of holidays or sickness. People said they would contact the agency if they needed to change times, or if there were any problems, and some of them had done this. They said that staff were sometimes late, and this was usually due to problems with public transport or traffic.