Eeze Care London

Updated 21 June 2023

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was conducted by two inspectors.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in three ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post. There was a service manager managing the day to day running of the service when we visited. 2 other managers had submitted applications to register and we were assessing these applications at the time of writing this report.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection. Inspection activity started on 11 October 2022. We visited the service’s registered location on 12 October 2022 and 1 of the provider’s supported living services on 13 October 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the service was registered with us. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the service manager and housing manager. We also spoke with 3 support workers members of staff, a relative visiting a person using the service and a service lead for the supported living service with visited. We reviewed a range of records relating to the management of the service, including checks and audits, recruitment records for five staff, records of care and the support plans for 2 people.

After our visits we spoke with 2 relatives of people who use the service and 4 professionals who have worked with the service recently. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training, procedures and management records.

Updated 21 June 2023

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.

About the service

Eeze Care London provides supported living services to people with a learning disability or autism and people with mental health needs. At the time of our inspection the provider operated 3 of these services, 1 was based in the London Borough of Ealing and 2 in the London Borough of Croydon. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. Only 2 adults were receiving personal care at the time of our inspection.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Right Support

The service did not always support people with their medicines in a way that promoted their safety and independence and achieved the best possible health outcome.

The provider did not always follow appropriate recruitment procedures to ensure only suitable staff were recruited to work at the service.

People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. The policies and systems at the service did not support this practice.

Staff supported people to maintain their health and access healthcare services.

Staff supported people to take part in activities and pursue their interests in their local area.

Staff communicated with people in ways that met their needs.

Right Care

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity, but some of the language used at the service did not always promote this.

People's support plans did not always reflect their range of needs to promote their wellbeing and enjoyment of life.

Staff knew and understood people and responded to their individual needs.

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe.

Right Culture

The provider's monitoring processes were not always effective in helping to ensure people consistently received good quality care and support. We have made a recommendation about the management of shared supported living services.

Staff knew and understood people well and were responsive to their needs.

People and those important to them, including advocates, were involved in planning their care.

The provider had a vision for the service based on a culture of improvement to enhance people's

quality of life.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 8 July 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have identified breaches in relation to support and risk management, medicines support, safe recruitment, promoting mental capacity, record-keeping and governance at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.