Home & Community Services (Redbridge)

Updated 17 November 2022

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 carried out by one inspector and two Experts by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

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 a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority 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 reviewed a range of records. This included 10 people's care plans and risk assessments. We reviewed seven people's medicines administration records in detail. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

We spoke with 15 members of staff including, the registered manager, two field care co-ordinator, one field care supervisor, one out of hours call handler and nine health care assistants.

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We requested additional evidence to be sent to us after our inspection. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We spoke with six people who used the service and 17 relatives by telephone about their experience of the care provided.

Updated 17 November 2022

About the service

Home & Community Services (Redbridge) is a domiciliary care agency and is based in the London Borough of Redbridge. The service provides personal care to people in their own homes. 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.

The service was supporting 89 people with personal care at the time of the inspection.

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

Risks were identified and were assessed to ensure people received safe care. People told us they felt safe when receiving support from staff. Staff were aware of how to safeguard people from abuse. Systems were in place to ensure staff attended calls on time. Systems were in place to prevent and minimise the spread of infections when supporting people. Pre-employment checks had been carried out to ensure staff were suitable to work with vulnerable people. Medicines were being managed safely.

Staff had been trained to perform their roles effectively. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People were supported by regular staff who were safely recruited and had the relevant training and qualifications to safely support them. There were sufficient staff to meet people's needs and ensure no care calls were missed.

People received care from staff who were caring and had a good relationship with them. Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity. People were encouraged to be independent and to carry out tasks without support.

People's needs were assessed prior to the commencement of the service. The assessment included people's health, physical and emotional as well as communication needs. People received person-centred care. Care plans had been reviewed regularly to ensure they were accurate. Systems were in place to manage complaints and people’s communication needs were met.

Systems to monitor the quality and safety of the service were in place. Staff reported having a positive relationship with the provider and felt communication was effective. Quality monitoring systems allowed for the effective monitoring of the service by the provider.

Staff demonstrated a strong level of engagement, a real sense of pride of working for Home & Community Services (Redbridge) and there was a high level of staff satisfaction. The provider had an ambition to be innovative and put people at the centre of the service delivery. They welcomed any form of external and internal auditing and feedback received was treated as an opportunity to reflect and further improve the quality of the service for people.

The team at Home & Community Services (Redbridge) has worked well with various local health and social professionals.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

This service was registered with us on 02 December 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.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.