- Homecare service
Graceful Care - Wandsworth
Report from 17 June 2025 assessment
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of Assessment: 25 June to 07 July 2025.
Graceful Care - Wandsworth is a domiciliary care agency registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to provide personal care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of this assessment 89 people were receiving a home care service from this provider. The CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating.
We undertook this inspection because at the previous inspection, we received mixed feedback about staff timings and attendance to calls. The electronic system used to monitor staff attendance on their calls did not always work as intended and office staff had to manually log
visits.
At this assessment, we reviewed all 15 quality statements related to the 2 key questions, Is the service safe and well-led? For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at their last inspection to calculate the overall rating.
Based on the findings of this inspection we continue to rate the service good overall.
The electronic call monitoring system was now established and working well. Care visits were being carried out in line with the rotas and governance systems were in place to ensure that the visits were being monitored and any discrepancies were followed up.
People using the service and their relatives told us they felt safe in the presence of care workers. Staff understood and managed risks well, including those in relation to people’s home environment.
There were enough staff employed with the right skills, qualifications and experience. Staff recruitment practices were safe. Staff were supported and received appropriate training which met the needs of people using the service. People received their medicines safely and as prescribed.
There were clear management structures in place which helped to ensure the smooth running of the service. Managers and staff had a shared vision and culture based on privacy, dignity and respect and meeting people’s individual needs. Staff felt supported in their roles and were treated equally and fairly. There was a positive culture of learning and improvement within the service. The service had good governance process in place to monitor the quality of service including investigating accidents and incidents. Managers and staff worked closely with external community health and social care professionals and bodies.
People's experience of this service
People, and their relatives, were positive about the quality of the care provided at the service.
People felt safe in the presence of care workers and told us that their consent was always sought before care was carried out. Comments included, “They have been coming since 2024,[SH1] I have built up a relationship with them. They are very important to me.”
People said care workers looked after their wellbeing and managed any risks. They said, “They feed [Family member] soft food because she has swallowing problems, they sit with her, take their time. [Family member] is at risk from falling, they guide her when she is walking, one in front and one behind. They are trained well.”
Risks to people were managed by the care workers. People said that staff were aware of risks and had the appropriate training to help keep them safe including how to use any required equipment safely. For example, “[Family member] has a hospital bed and a hoist, they are skilled at what they do, they check her skin and let me know if there are any problems” and “They do what they are supposed to do. They walk with my wife whilst she uses her frame.”
People received care from a consistent care team. Care workers arrived on time and they let them know if they were running late and people said that care workers did not appear rushed for time. Comments included, “We have the same 2 carers. If carers are on leave or off sick, they will always send someone [Family member] knows. The carers arrive on time, if late, the office calls to let us know” and “We have a consistent team, days off are covered by people she knows. They all know exactly what to do.”
People that were supported to take their medicines told us that this was done on time and care workers recorded this.
People, and their relatives, told us that Graceful Care had a good culture. They said they would have no hesitation in contacting the office if they had any concerns and that communication with the office staff was good. They said, “We have open lines of communication”, “There is brilliant communication, they treat her like family”, “It is a good organisation, they are open to conversation. We usually communicate with the carers, and they relay any concerns to the office”, “They ring to see if everything is OK, they are a good service” and “I’ve been with them for a long time. I am very happy with them.”