Thames Homecare Service Ltd

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

Responsive – this means we looked for evidence that the provider met people’s needs.

At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good. This meant people’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery.

This service scored 68 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People received person centred care. People’s care records contained detail about what was important to them and their individual likes and dislikes. For example, a person wished to have food prepared in line with their cultural needs and another person was supported with prayer and listening to religious books. People and relatives told us staff knew them well and provided individualised care to them. A person said, “My fantastic carer understands my needs very well.” And a relative said, “Staff are all kind and caring. We have been using the agency for a long time now and we are all happy.”

The provider had a proactive and positive culture of safety, based on openness and honesty. Staff listened to concerns about safety and investigated and reported safety events. Lessons were learnt to continually identify and embed good practice. Accidents and incidents were monitored, with action taken to learn lessons from these and mitigate risks posed to people. For example, a person had a deterioration in their mental health, and this was referred to the community mental health team and GP, and a medication review was undertaken.

The provider supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs. People told us they were provided with a copy of their care plans and were involved in their care planning. People had communication care plans in place, which gave staff guidance about their needs. People told us they were provided with staff who could speak their language and this had a positive impact on their care and support. People were provided with information about how to make a complaint. This was available in a range of languages and in easy to read formats.

The provider made it easy for people to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. Staff involved people in decisions about their care and told them what had changed as a result. People told us they felt listened to and were provided with opportunities to feedback about their care and support. At the time of our assessment no formal complaints had been made over the previous 12 months. A concerns and compliments log was in place. This showed where people had raised concerns, action was taken to address these. Records evidenced people had fed back they were happy with their care and support, particularly the staff's approach and kindness towards them. Comments included ‘My relative always gets the same carers which means they fully understand what their likes and dislikes are and therefore I get peace of mind’ and ‘We are happy how our relative is supported, especially dealing with [Name’s] emotions, as well as understanding their needs.’

The provider made sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it. People had access to external healthcare professionals and service as required. For example, records evidenced the service worked with district nurses, speech and language therapists and GPs.

Staff and leaders actively listened to information about people who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes and tailored their care, support and treatment in response to this. Where required, people were supported to access the community. For example, 1 person was supported to go for walks and go to their local library. Another person was supported to attend a cultural café. People were supported to do things they liked, such as listening to their preferred music, doing arts and crafts and keeping in touch with friends and family. A staff member said, “I know people well. I am allocated to the same people, so I get to know them and they get to know me.”

People were not always supported to plan for important life changes, so they could have enough time to make informed decisions about their future, including at the end of their life. Some improvements were required to records regarding people's support at the end of their life. For example, we saw that a person who was receiving palliative care, did not have a detailed and specific care plan in place, to guide staff about how to support them and what this meant for them. Improvements were also required to show people’s future goals and aspirations in their care plans. However, we did find staff listened to people’s wishes and supported them to achieve good outcomes.