During an assessment under our new approach
We carried out this assessment on 1 September 2026. Ethan Care Woking is a care at home service providing personal care to older people, including those living with mental health conditions. At the time of the assessment, 22 people were using the service and receiving personal care from the service.
The service is also registered as a supported living service, although at the time of our assessment there was no one receiving a regulated activity. We therefore did not assess this part of their registration.
The service was registered to provide support to people living with a learning disability, although no one had a diagnosis at the time of the assessment. We assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence, and good access to community facilities. We were assured the provider and staff demonstrated these principles.
During the assessment, we identified breaches of regulation relating to governance. Governance systems were not always robust and did not provide leaders with effective oversight of the service. As a result, leaders had not identified a range of concerns, including medicines management issues and information within care plans.
Whilst people received care that met their needs, care plans did not always provide clear guidance on how to support specific health conditions. We also found people were not consistently supports to consider and record their wishes for future care, in line with the providers policies and procedures.
We discussed the concerns with the management team during the assessment. The provider took prompt action to address the concerns identified.
We also identified areas of good practice. There was a positive learning culture where staff were encouraged to reflect on practice and improve the support they provided. Staff had a good understanding of their responsibilities in maintaining people’s safety.
Leaders worked effectively in partnership with people, relatives and external professionals to ensure people received coordinated care that met their individual needs.