During an assessment under our new approach
Caremark Hounslow is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. The agency is registered to care for adults and children including people with a learning disability. At the time of our assessment, 47 people were receiving support with personal care. The agency provided additional support to others including companionship. The agency was a franchise. The registered provider operated this and 1 other care agency branch.
The assessment started on 10 April 2025 and ended on 17 April 2025. We made telephone calls to people using the service, their relatives and staff. We met the registered manager via a video call, and we reviewed records remotely.
The last rating of this service was requires improvement (published 16 November 2022) when we identified breaches relating to safe care and treatment and good governance. We told the provider to make improvements. This assessment was conducted to follow up on their action plan. We found improvements had been made and the service is now rated good.
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it. We found the provider was meeting the principles of right support, right care, right culture.
Staff provided safe care which met people’s needs. Risks to people’s safety were assessed and planned for. Some people were supported to learn new skills and spend time outside of their homes attending schools, colleges and leisure facilities. The provider had assessed the risks associated with these to help keep people safe.
There were enough staff to provide care. People were cared for by the same familiar members of staff who they liked. The staff undertook a range of training, including specialist training to help them understand about people’s needs and caring for people with a learning disability. People thought the staff were kind, caring and polite. Staff felt well supported and enjoyed working for the agency.
The provider had effective systems to monitor and improve the quality of the service. They asked stakeholders for feedback and were involved in initiatives to help support local communities.