Background to this inspection
Updated
23 July 2021
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
Two inspectors and two Experts by Experience carried out this inspection. 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
Thames Homecare Service Ltd – Southwark is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
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 registered manager would be at the service to support the inspection. Prior to our visit we checked if it was safe for us to carry out a site visit, in accordance with our COVID-19 safety protocols.
Inspection activity started on 18 May 2021 and ended on 3 June 2021. We visited the office location on 18 May 2021.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed the information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service.
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
During the inspection
We spoke with the registered manager and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.
We reviewed nine people’s care and medicine records, and we looked at five staff files that included recruitment and training records. We looked at a sample of policies and procedures and records related to the management of the service.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate the evidence found. We spoke with 11 people and 11 relatives to get their feedback on the care and support.
We received written feedback from seven care workers about their experiences working at the service. We reviewed copies of quality assurance records sent to us by the provider.
Updated
23 July 2021
About this service
Thames Homecare Service Ltd – Southwark is a domiciliary care agency. It provides a personal care support service to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection 85 people were using the service.
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
People and their relatives had experiences of safe care and support. One person said, “I have felt very safe all the time.”
The registered manager had improved the quality of people’s assessments to identify and manage potential risks. Staff were recruited through a robust recruitment process.
People were supported with their medicines to meet their individual needs. Staff were trained in medicines management and kept accurate records.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. People gave staff their consent to receive care and support and this was recorded.
The provider updated their systems to monitor the quality of care to ensure it was of a good standard. People praised staff and shared their positive comments about the care and support they received.
There were suitable infection control and prevention methods in place. This was in line with government guidelines around the COVID-19 pandemic. This helped staff to reduce the risks of infection for people they supported.
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 inspection was requires improvement (report published on 19 March). We found breaches of regulation in relation to the management of people's medicines, risk assessments, consent to care, quality assurance and recruitment processes. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
This was a planned focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective and well-led only. We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings of this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link Thames Homecare Service Ltd - Southwark on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.