Thames Homecare Service Ltd

Updated 16 July 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 two inspectors and an expert 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.

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced. Inspection activity started on 14 June 2022 and ended on 4 July 2022. We visited the location’s office on 16 June 2022 to start the inspection and requested access to a number of records but the registered manager initially refused the inspector to undertake the inspection. We worked with the registered manager to resolve this situation and returned to the location’s office to continue the inspection on 20 and 21 June 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included feedback from local authorities who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. 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 of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager, the branch manager, an HR officer and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We looked at 10 staff files in relation to supervision, training and recruitment. We viewed care and risk management plans for five people and a variety of records relating to the management of the service. We spoke with 12 people or relatives of people who used the service. We emailed care staff to provide feedback about working for the provider and received 36 responses. We requested further evidence from the provider so as to clarify and validate the evidence we found.

Updated 16 July 2022

About the service

Thames Homecare Service Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the agency was supporting 190 people. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. In this service, the Care Quality Commission can only inspect the service received by people who get support with personal care. This includes help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where people receive such support, we also consider any wider social care provided.

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

People and relatives thought the service was good and spoke positively about their care and the staff who supported them.

There were enough staff to meet people's needs and staff supported people safely with their medicines. There were recruitment processes in place to help make sure only suitable staff were employed.

The provider assessed and supported people to manage risks to their safety and well-being. There were procedures in place for preventing and controlling the spread of infection. The service worked in partnership with other professionals to meet people’s needs and help them to access healthcare services.

There were systems in place to continue to develop the service, monitor the quality of the service and recognise when improvements were required. People and staff were asked to give feedback about the service. Staff said they liked working for the provider and found managers were responsive and supportive.

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 19 November 2020) At our last inspection we found breaches of the regulations in relation to safe care and treatment and good governance. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to tell us what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was now meeting these regulations.

Why we inspected

We undertook this focused inspection to check if the provider had made improvements and if they were now meeting the legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe and well-led.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Thames Homecare Service Ltd on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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