Archived: The Thames Clinic

We concluded that people experienced care, treatment and support that met their needs and protected their rights and that people who use the service were protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening.

People were protected against the risks associated with medicines because the provider had appropriate arrangements in place to manage medicines. Staff were supported to deliver care and treatment safely and to an appropriate standard. However, the provider may find it useful to note that for some bank nurses and support workers the training records available did not evidence that mandatory training had been completed or that supervision or appraisal were being undertaken. This could mean that some bank staff had not received training that would enable them to carry out their role safely and effectively.

We found that the provider had an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received.

People we spoke with told us they were happy with the admissions process and that staff helped them to understand the care, treatment and support choices available to them. One person told us, 'What you get is exactly what they promised'.

People we spoke with were very positive about their care and treatment. One person said, 'This place was just what I needed. The staff are great, the food is excellent and help is available whenever I need it'.

We looked at information that was available to people in relation to fees payable for services provided and found a number of discrepancies between them, which made some information unclear and confusing.

The provider had in place policies and procedures for safeguarding of vulnerable adults to give guidance to staff on how to deal or report any concerns they may have. We looked at the records of training staff had received and saw evidence that staff had undertaken training relevant to their roles. A new system had been introduced in January 2014 to enable the quality of the service to be monitored.