We carried out a review of the data available to us about Care Quality Services London 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 Care Quality Services London, you can give feedback on this service.
Allied Health-Services Sutton is a domiciliary care agency. It provides a personal care support service to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care for 66 people.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; 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
At the last inspection people experienced poor staff consistency regarding visit times and missed calls. They and their relatives raised concerns and made complaints about some poor care experiences but did not feel listened to when raising issues. Audits did not always identify issues in relation to late visits and action taken was not always clear. At this inspection staff consistency was improved, missed calls reduced, complaints responded to and audits identified late visit issues and action taken, in up to date records.
The service provided was safe for people to use and staff to work in. People were enabled to live safely and enjoy their lives, by the support they received and risks to them being assessed and monitored. The provider reported, investigated and recorded accidents and incidents and safeguarding concerns. Medicines were safely administered, by trained staff. The provider met shielding and social distancing rules, used PPE effectively and safely and the infection prevention and control policy was up to date.
People’s needs were assessed, reviewed and they received person centred care. They were given choices, supported to follow their routines, interests and hobbies and social isolation was minimised, where possible. People were given enough information to make their own decisions and end of life wishes were identified, if appropriate.
The provider’s culture was open, honest and positive with transparent management and leadership. The organisation had a clearly defined vision and values that staff understood and followed. Areas of responsibility and accountability were identified, with staff willing to take responsibility and report any concerns they may have, in a timely fashion. The provider reviewed service quality and made changes to improve the care and support people received. This was in a way that best suited people. The provider played a role in the community through well-established working partnerships that promoted people’s participation and reduced social isolation. Registration requirements were met.
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was Requires Improvement (published 10 March 2020).
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted in part due to concerns regarding inconsistent visit times and missed calls, response to concerns and complaints raised and audits not always identifying issues in relation to late visits and missed visits. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine the risks associated with these issues.
Care Quality Commission (CQC) has introduced focused/targeted inspections to follow up on previous breaches and to check specific concerns.
We undertook a focused inspection approach to review the key questions of Safe, Responsive and Well-led where we had specific concerns about inconsistent visit times and missed calls, responses to complaints and audit management.
As no concerns were identified in relation to the key questions is the service Effective and Caring we decided not to inspect them. Ratings from the previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating 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.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Allied Healthcare Sutton is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. At the time of our inspection it provided a service for 102 people. Not everyone using the service receives 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 were not consistently protected from the risk of harm. People told us they experienced poor staff consistency over visit times and missed calls left people at risk of harm.
People and relatives raised concerns and made complaints about some poor care experiences. While the provider had a complaints policy and procedure in place, people felt they were not listened to when they raised issues.
Technology was not consistently or effectively used by the provider to ensure people were informed promptly about missed or late calls.
We have made a recommendation about the use of available technology and existing systems to improve the tracking of planned care calls to people.
The provider’s auditing systems and quality assurance methods in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service did not ensure areas of concern were always picked up and/or managed in a way that enabled improvements to be made as required.
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 provider followed the principles of the Mental Capacity Act, 2005 (MCA) in planning and delivering people's support. People's consent was obtained before they were supported.
Staff were trained in safeguarding people and understood how to assess, monitor and manage their safety.
A range of risk assessments were completed, and preventative action was taken to reduce the risk of harm to people.
People were supported with their medicines in a safe way.
People's nutritional needs were met, and they were supported with their health care needs when required.
The service worked with other organisations to ensure that people received coordinated care and support.
People were protected by safe recruitment process which ensured staff were suitable to work in care services. There were enough staff to meet people's needs.
All staff received training for their role and ongoing support and supervision to work effectively.
The registered manager and staff spoke about the people they supported with care and kindness.
Assessments and care plans included details of people’s preferences and wishes for care and support.
People told us they were involved in the assessment and care planning process.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection:
This new service was registered with us on 18 January 2019 and this is the first inspection.
The last rating for this service was good (published 18 June 2018). Since this rating was awarded the registered provider of the service has changed, the service has moved premises and the provider has altered its legal entity. 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 and the date this provider registered with us.
Enforcement:
We found two breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 to do with the provider lacking both effective management of complaints and robust quality assurance processes. We made one recommendation to do with the use of technology. Please see the 'action we have told the provider to take' section towards the end of the report.
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.