Archived: Caremark (Hounslow)

Updated 14 October 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on the 1 September 2016 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be available.

One inspector undertook the inspection and another inspector carried out telephone interviews with people using the service and care workers.

Before the inspection we reviewed the notifications we had received from the service, records of safeguarding alerts and previous inspection reports.

During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager and the owner of the service. We reviewed the care records for four people using the service, the employment folders including training and supervision records for five care workers and records relating to the management of the service. We also undertook telephone interviews with one person receiving care, four relatives and five care workers.

Updated 14 October 2016

We undertook an announced inspection of Caremark (Hounslow) on 1 September 2016. We told the provider two days before our visit that we would be coming because the location provides a domiciliary care service for people in their own homes and staff might be out visiting people.

Caremark (Hounslow) is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care for people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection eight people were receiving support including a regulated activity in their own homes.

We previously inspected Caremark (Hounslow) on 17 and 18 December 2015 and the service was rated as Requires Improvement with the Safe domain rated as Inadequate. Issues were identified in relation to safeguarding, administration of medicines, recording incidents and accidents, risk assessments, mental capacity assessments, person centred care planning and quality assurance. During the inspection on the 1 September 2016 we saw that improvements had been made across the issues identified.

At the time of the inspection there was a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The provider now had processes in place for the recording and investigation of incidents and accidents.

A range of risk assessments were in place in the support folders in relation to the care being provided including ones related to specific health and support issues with guidance for care workers.

The provider had an effective recruitment process in place. There was a policy and procedure in place for the administration of medicines. Care workers were completing Medicine Administration Record (MAR) charts accurately and clearly.

The provider reported any safeguarding concerns to the local authority. People told us they felt safe when they received support and the provider had policies and procedures in place to deal with any concerns that were raised about the care provided.

Care workers had received training identified by the provider as mandatory to ensure they were providing appropriate and effective care for people using the service. Also care workers had regular supervision with their manager and received an annual appraisal.

The provider now had policies and procedures in place to carry out assessments in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

People we spoke with felt the care workers were caring and treated them with dignity and respect while providing care. Care plans identified the person’s cultural and religious needs.

Detailed assessments of the person’s needs were carried out before the person started to receive care in their own home. Each person had a care plan in place which described their support needs. Care workers completed a record of the care and support provided during each visit.

The provider had a complaints process in place and people knew what to do if they wished to raise any concerns.

The provider now had systems in place to monitor the quality of the care provided and these provided appropriate information to identify issues with the quality of the service.