Archived: Plan Care Kings Cross

During this inspection, we did not speak with people who use the service to discuss their experiences. This is because we inspected the service as a result of a safeguarding adults alert and concerns raised with us as a result.

Below is a summary of what we found. The summary describes what staff told us, the records we looked at and information we received from the commissioning local authority and other professionals involved with the service. If you wish to see the evidence that supports our summary please read the full report.

Is the service safe?

We found that people's care plans were not regularly reviewed or updated when their needs changed. Risks to staff and the person who used the service were not appropriately assessed, and measures were not in place to ensure people's safety. This left them at risk of receiving inappropriate and unsafe care and support.

There were not enough staff to safely meet people's needs, and staff were not provided with adequate rest time in accordance with the Working Time Regulations.

People who use the service were not appropriately safeguarded from the risk of abuse.

Is the service effective?

People were not always supported according to their care plans, and the support provided did not always meet their needs.

Is the service caring?

Feedback from people who used the service was generally very positive about individual care workers. One person wrote "[Carer] is such a lovely carer and so kind to me". Another person wrote "I am very happy with what she is doing so long as they don't take her away".

However, we noted that care plans were not personalised, used inappropriate language and did not record people's preferences, routines and individual needs. We also noted that service policies and documents indicated a culture in which staff were not aware of their duty of care to the people they supported, and concerns were not raised in a timely manner nor appropriately acted upon.

Is the service responsive?

We found that people were asked for their feedback sporadically, and this was not always acted upon. The provider did not have a system in place to ensure that care provided met people's needs safely, or to identify and manage risks to people who use the service and others.

Is the service well-led?

We found that staff were not appropriately supported, and did not have regular supervision and appraisal meetings to discuss their work and the people they supported. Where meetings were held, they were not always effective.

The provider did not have regard to changes facing the service, and had not properly planned for foreseeable events, which left people at risk of receiving unsafe and inappropriate care.

Checks and audits of the quality of the service were not undertaken regularly, and there was no system in place to ensure highly vulnerable people were appropriately supported.

People using the service were generally happy with the care and support provided. Their comments included “I am very happy with my regular care worker who has helped me over the last five years”, “The carers look after me very well, I don’t know what I’d do without them” and “The carers I have now are very, very good. I wouldn’t want to lose them. I’m very pleased.” However, some people told us that there were occasional problems in the past contacting the provider’s office staff. One person told us “My present carer is very good, but I can’t get hold of [the office staff].”

Staff received appropriate induction training and attended ongoing refresher training. They told us they felt well-supported by the provider.

The provider had effective systems for monitoring and assessing the quality of the service and for dealing with complaints.

The care and support people received was tailored to meet individual needs. It was set out in care plans that were regularly reviewed in consultation with the people using the service, their relatives and commissioning care professionals.

People we spoke with were generally very positive about the service and the care workers. One said the service was “excellent” and the care worker was “very good.” Another told us the care worker was “very attentive.” Almost all the people said the care workers were polite and respectful and that the visits were usually made on time.

We saw that care workers were given appropriate induction training, ongoing training and support. The provider was able to monitor most visits using an electronic logging system and carried out frequent quality assessment checks by various methods.