We carried out a review of the data available to us about Home Instead Wandsworth, Lambeth & Dulwich on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Home Instead Wandsworth, Lambeth & Dulwich, you can give feedback on this service.
HomeInstead Senior Care, Wandsworth, Lambeth & Dulwich is a domiciliary care service providing care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection there were 80 people receiving personal care support.
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
Care workers were knows as CAREGivers within the organisation. We will refer to them as such throughout the report.
Feedback from people, relatives and healthcare professionals was positive. Terms such as “Excellent” and “Exceptional” were frequently used to describe both the attitude of CAREGivers and the delivery of care. People’s privacy and dignity were respected and care was delivered in a way that promoted people’s independence. The provider advocated for people’s rights and supported them to access community support systems.
The provider was involved in a number of community initiatives, working in partnership with other services to promote understanding and raising awareness about dementia. Feedback from people was extremely positive, many praising the management of the service. There was a high level of engagement with people using the service, their relatives and staff.
People and their relatives felt safe and secure in the presence of CAREGivers. The provider acted when any concerns were raised which helped to protect people from harm or abuse. Risks to people were identified during the initial assessments and then reviewed regularly. The provider had made improvements to its recruitment practice and the way in which people were supported to take their medicines.
People and their relatives said that CAREGivers were trained and competent to carry out their duties effectively. People were given appropriate support in relation to their diet and nutrition. Where required, CAREgivers liaised with other health professionals to ensure people’s health needs were met. Consent to care was in line with good practice. People and their relatives were fully involved in the delivery of care and were in control of agreeing to their care.
Complaints were dealt with quickly and to the satisfaction of people. Care plans were person centred and were reviewed regularly. End of life care training was due to be delivered to staff.
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was Good (published 23 May 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
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.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
HomeInstead Senior Care, Wandsworth, Lambeth & Dulwich provides personal care for people in their own homes. The office is based in the Earlsfield area but provides care to people in Wandsworth, Lambeth and Dulwich. At the time of the inspection there were approximately 80 people using the service.
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.
Care workers were known within the organisation as 'caregivers,' we have called them this in the report.
People and their relatives praised the caregivers for their empathy and were pleased with how they were supported. The minimum length of calls the provider offered was one hour, regardless of the level of support needed. This meant that caregivers were given time to complete their tasks but also to offer companionship to people which in turn allowed for caring relationships to develop.
Care plans were written in a person-centred manner and were easy to read. They contained information about people’s background, their working and family life and other information. Caregivers were familiar with people, their support needs but also their personality, their life and the things they enjoyed.
We found there were enough caregivers employed to meet people’s needs. The provider tried to ensure a team of caregivers were allocated to each person, which helped to provide continuity of care and familiarity if caregivers were away on leave.
Although there were recruitment checks in place which helped to ensure caregivers were safe to work with people, we found that not all references we saw were verified for their authenticity.
Caregivers completed an induction programme which was based on the Care Certificate, thereafter they received regular training and supervision.
An initial assessment was completed in people’s homes before they started to use the service, this included risk assessments in relation to physical needs, moving and handling and the environment. Person centred care plans were developed using the information gathered during the initial assessment. People were given time to decide whether they wanted to be supported by the provider and consent was sought before care was started.
Supervisors reviewed care plans at regular intervals which helped to ensure they were up to date. They also carried out client audit reports and service reviews which helped to ensure records were being completed correctly and people and their relatives were happy with the service provided.
People and their relatives were given an information pack which included details about the providers’ complaints policy and how they could raise concerns if they were not happy with any aspect of the service.
Although people and their relatives told us they were supported appropriately with respect to their medicines, we found there was inconsistency in some of the records we saw in relation to the level of medicines support that was provided.
We received positive feedback about the management of the service. People and their relatives told us that they could always contact someone and they were kept up to date about any changes. Care plans were reviewed regularly and people were asked for their feedback about the service by independent external companies. The registered manager was active in the community, working with community organisations, raising awareness about dementia.
We have made two recommendations in relation to medicines management and staff recruitment.