The Care Quality Commission
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  • Homecare service

Archived: Thera East

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

The West House, Alpha Court, Swingbridge Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG31 7XT 0300 303 1253

Provided and run by:
Thera Trust

Important: The provider of this service changed. See new profile

All Inspections

29 November 2016

During a routine inspection

This announced inspection was carried out between 29 November 2016 and 23 January 2017. Thera East is a domiciliary care service which provides personal care across the eastern counties of Essex and Suffolk to people with learning disabilities who are living independently in their own accommodation. Some of these are shared tenancies with other people who also receive personal care and support from Thera East, and others are single tenancies. Prior to the inspection the provider informed us that they were providing services to 256 people receiving personal care. Staff work in small teams and provide personal care and support to people into a single or small number of properties in these geographical areas.

The service had a registered manager in place at the time of our inspection. 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.

People were supported by staff who understood the risks people could face and knew how to make people feel safe. People were encouraged to be independent and risks were mitigated in the least restrictive way possible.

People were supported by consistent staff who they knew. People who required support to take their medicines received assistance to do so when this was needed.

People were provided with the care and support they wanted by staff who were trained and supported to do so. People’s human right to make decisions for themselves was respected and they provided consent to their care when needed. Where people were unable to do so the provider followed the Mental Capacity Act 2005 legal framework to make the least restrictive decisions in people’s best interest.

People were supported by staff who understood their health conditions and ensured they had sufficient to eat and drink to maintain their wellbeing.

People were treated with dignity and respect and their privacy was protected. Where possible people were involved in making decisions about their care and support.

People were able to influence the way their care and support was delivered and they could rely on this being provided as they wished. People were informed on how to express any issues or concerns they had so these could be investigated and acted upon.

People were supported by a service which was person centred and put their interests first. However the systems in place to monitor the quality of the service were not being followed so that improvements could be made when needed.

24, 25 February and 3, 4, 5 March 2014

During a routine inspection

Prior to the inspection we reviewed all the information we had received from the provider. We spent four days visiting people in their houses as a method of gaining people's views and experiences. This involved visiting 12 supported living houses, we met 29 people who used the service and looked at their support files. We also used observation to help us understand the experiences of people who used the service, because some people had communication needs which meant they were not all able to tell us their experience. We also spoke with five relatives and asked them for their views.

We visited the provider's office to look at service records and information. Over the course of the inspection we spoke with the acting manager, the personal assistant (PA) for the provider, 30 members of staff, which included community support leaders, team coordinators and support workers.

We found people had their care and welfare needs safely met. Comments received from people who used the service included, 'I make the choices about my care, I feel safe and listened to.' And, 'My keyworker discussed my support plan with me I know what is in it.'

Relatives told us they were happy with the service provided to their family member. Comments included, 'I am not close so can't visit often, but when I do talk to staff they explain the care with me.'

Support workers received appropriate training and support. The provider had internal quality, monitoring and audit systems in place.

11, 12 September 2012

During a routine inspection

We found that people were encouraged to make choices for themselves and were asked about what was important to them and how they wanted their care to be delivered.

A relative of one person we spoke with told us that Thera East regularly checked with people to make sure that what they were providing was right for the person. The relative told us, 'They recognise changing needs and give people the space to develop in the way they want.'

People were involved in planning and deciding the way they wanted their staff to provide support for them. One person said, 'I get one to one support in a way I like. It helps me to go to work and I know it is good.'

The people we spoke with also said that staff understood how to meet their ongoing needs, were caring, supportive and helpful. One person told us, 'I have my own car and I go out when I want. I have enrolled in at the local college. I like my independence and the help I get.'

We found that people felt confident in taking any suggestions about how the service could be improved or any concerns they had to the manager or any of the staff team. One person told us that, 'If I have any worries I talk to my staff and they help me to make things better for me.'

Records showed and staff told us that staff had the right amount of training and support to enable them to do their job safely. Staff also said they were given, and encouraged to give regular feedback to the management team on how well the organisation was doing.