Archived: Carewatch Lewisham

Updated 4 October 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of one inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. 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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 13 August 2019 and ended on 06 September 2019. We visited the office location on 13 August 2019, 15 August 2019 and 03 September 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information the CQC held about the service. This included notifications of significant incidents reported to the CQC and the previous inspection report. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager, the head of franchise, a care co-ordinator and five care workers. We spoke with nine relatives and seven people. We reviewed a range of records, including 12 people’s care records and medicines records. We looked at two staff files and various records relating to the running of the service, including quality assurance records.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We reviewed policies and procedures.

Updated 4 October 2019

About the service

Carewatch Lewisham is a domiciliary care service. It provides care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection they were supporting 100 people. The agency is registered to provide services for children, younger adults and older adults with a range of needs including physical disabilities, autism and dementia.

People’s experience of using this service

People and their relatives spoke highly of the service they received. They told us they were receiving good care from reliable staff who listened to them and understood their needs. A relative told us, "The carer is lovely, a diamond… some do more than they have to."

People told us they felt safe and they were cared for by staff who were well-trained and understood how to protect them from abuse and the risks they faced.

People were promoted to live independent, confident lives and take risks in a positive way. They had continuity of care from reliable staff who knew them well.

Some of the assessments and support plans we looked at during the inspection did not reflect the detailed knowledge that staff had of the people they supported, however the service had already identified these issues and reviews had been planned.

Medicines were being managed well and staff followed good infection control practices.

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.

There was a positive culture of person-centred, high quality care throughout the organisation. Staff told us they enjoyed working here and that they were well supported by the management team.

People and their relatives told us that when things went wrong they were comfortable in contacting the office and that they would be listened to. People who had raised concerns in the past said their concerns had been dealt with appropriately.

The management team was committed to maintaining high standards and there were robust quality assurance systems in place.

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

Rating at last inspection:

The last rating for this service was good (published 28 February 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.