Hillingdon

Hillingdon is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to mostly older people living in their own homes in the London Borough of Hillingdon. It also supports some adults who are living with dementia and adults who have physical or learning disabilities. At the time of our inspection the service was providing care to 62 people.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People told us they felt safe. Where there were risks to people’s safety and wellbeing, these had been assessed and the provider had done all that was reasonably practicable to lessen those risks.

People's care and risk management plans set out the care tasks they required help with and these contained personalised information about people and their preferences for how they liked to be supported.

There were robust systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and recognise when improvements were required. The provider was transparent and there was clear communication within the team, so they learnt from mistakes and made improvements when things went wrong.

We received positive feedback from people and their relatives about using the service. One person said, “Yes very pleased with them” and another stated, “Wonderful. I didn’t know of it [the service] but would recommend it to anyone.” People said staff were caring and treated them with dignity and respect. Staff sometimes provided extra support and assistance to people when this was not part of people's contractual care arrangements.

The provider made sure there were enough staff to support people and staff usually at people’s homes arrived on time. Staff received induction, training and supervision and felt supported in their roles.

The provider sought feedback from people, relatives and staff and used this to develop the service. People and staff were confident they could raise any concerns they had with the registered manager and felt they would be listened to.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The registered manager and senior staff were responsive to and worked in partnership with other agencies to meet people’s needs.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was good (published 2 June 2017). Since this rating was awarded the service has moved premises and has changed the location’s name. We have used the previous rating to inform our planning and decisions about the rating at this inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

The overall rating for the service has remained good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

London Quality Care Services provides a range of services to people in their own homes including personal care. People using the service had a range of needs such as learning and/or physical disabilities and dementia. The service offered support to people over the age of 18 years old. At the time of our inspection seven people were receiving personal care in their homes. All the people using the service were paying for their own care.

The service was registered with the Care Quality Commission on 12 February 2016 and had not been inspected before.

There was a manager in post who had made an application to be registered. 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.

The risks to people's wellbeing and safety had been assessed, and there were detailed plans in place for all the risks identified.

There were procedures for safeguarding adults and the care workers were aware of these and knew to report any concerns. Care workers knew how to respond to any medical emergencies or significant changes in a person's wellbeing.

Feedback from people was positive. People said they had regular care workers visiting which enabled them to build a rapport and get to know them.

People's needs were assessed by the provider prior to receiving a service and support plans were developed from the assessments. People had taken part in the planning of their care.

People we spoke with said that they were happy with the level of care they were receiving from the service.

The manager was aware of their responsibilities in line with the requirements of the

Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and told us that all staff had received training in this. People had consented to their care and support and had their capacity assessed prior to receiving a service from London Quality Care Services. Nobody was being deprived of their liberty unlawfully at the time of our inspection.

There were systems in place to ensure that people received their medicines safely and the staff had received training in the management of medicines. However, at the time of our inspection, none of the people who used the service were being supported with their medicines.

The service employed enough staff to meet people's needs safely and had contingency plans in place in the event of staff absence. Recruitment checks were in place to obtain information about new staff before they supported people unsupervised.

People's health and nutritional needs had been assessed, recorded and were being monitored.

Care workers received an induction and shadowing period before delivering care and support to people. They received the training and support they needed to care for people.

There was a complaints procedure in place which the provider followed. People felt confident that if they raised a complaint, they would be listened to and their concerns addressed.

There were systems in place to monitor and assess the quality and effectiveness of the service, and the provider ensured that areas for improvement were identified and addressed.

People and staff told us that the manager was approachable and supportive and they encouraged an open and transparent culture within the service. People and staff were supported to raise concerns and make suggestions about where improvements could be made.