- Homecare service
Gemcare South West Plymouth
Assessment report published 30 July 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment: 9 to 29 June 2026.
Gemcare South West Plymouth is a homecare agency, providing personal care to people under and over 65 years old, people living with dementia, learning disabilities, mental health conditions, physical disabilities and/ or sensory impairment. At the time of our assessment, 61 people receiving the regulated activity were using the service. We have assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people needs were being met in relation to respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted.
Gemcare South West Plymouth was rated requires improvement at its previous assessment in January 2026. Since our last assessment, the provider had made improvements. The service isno longer in breach of regulations. However, the overall rating remains requires improvement as systems were still new and needed to be embedded to ensure improvements were made and sustained.
The manager was aware of the further improvements needed and was working on areas such as staff conduct and consistency, visit duration, communication, and engagement with people and staff.
Care plans now contained detailed person-centred information. Risks had been assessed and staff had guidance on how to keep people safe. Staff recruitment was safe and staff received regular supervision. Visit timings had improved. The manager had continued to work on building relationships and making improvements. The provider had improved oversight and governance.
People's experience of this service
People told us they felt safe. People and relatives told us they were happy with their regular care staff who knew them well and always met their needs. Comments included, “The carers are all very good, extremely respectful, and very kind” and “If they have their regular carers everything is brilliant, they really like them.”
However, some people felt certain staff did not meet their needs. People told us the staff could be task focused, rushed and did not follow their routines. Some visits were less than half the planned length and care was not delivered as planned. We heard of examples of people not getting the support they needed with washing and dressing.
Feedback about communication remained mixed. Some people were happy with the service and told us any issues were resolved. Other people told us they had difficulty getting through to the office and when they did raise issues, they were not always addressed.