Focus Care Link Ltd - Waltham Forest Branch

Updated 23 December 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.

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

This inspection was announced.

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. Inspection activity started on 28 September and ended on 4 October 2022. We visited the location’s office/service on 28 September and 4 October 2022.

What we did before the inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 10 staff including 2 care co-ordinators, 2 care supervisors, 1 monitoring officer and 5 care workers. We reviewed 6 care plans including risk assessments. We spoke with 6 people using the service. We looked at a range of records including service audits, 6 staff files, training records, accident and incidents files and safeguarding records.

Updated 23 December 2022

About the service

Focus Care Link Ltd – Waltham Forest Branch is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. At the time of our inspection there were 63 people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service

Some people told us that their care was delivered on time, and they had no concerns with staff calls, however one person told us care workers were late on several occasions or had not attended the call at all. One person told us they did not always receive a phone call from the office with an apology or an explanation. The information we reviewed about the monitoring call systems, showed late calls were recorded and actions taken for example welfare calls were made to people if care workers were running late. We were informed that on one occasion there was a missed call, in this case the monitoring officer stated they had called the person to arrange another care worker to visit the person. We have made a recommendation about staffing.

Some staff were not always clear on safeguarding procedures. We saw that staff had safeguarding training and the branch manager said they would pick up this lack of knowledge with the team. We have made a recommendation about safeguarding training.

Risk management plans had been reviewed since the last inspection, they contained enough information for staff to follow and keep people safe from harm. Medicines were not always managed well, we found gaps in the administrative records. People were supported by staff who had been recruited safely. Infection control measures were in place and staff had access to supplies of PPE.

The provider followed the principle of the Mental Capacity Act. Staff told us they always asked for people's consent before providing care. People told us they had care plans and their needs had been assessed. Staff had training in several subjects mandated by the provider. Staff followed an induction plan before they were able to provide care to people unsupervised. People had their nutritional needs assessed to prevent malnutrition and dehydration. People had access to health care professionals.

People told us staff were kind, caring and friendly. People said they were respected and treated well. People and staff were able to share their views with the managerial team and people were involved in their care and making decisions. People’s care plans contained personal information about what was important to them. People's communication needs were assessed. The provider had addressed complaints in a timely manner.

Staff told us they were supported by the managers, they felt they were listened to and valued. People were engaged in the service and told us they were asked for their views regularly. The quality of care was monitored and audited regularly, and improvements had been made to the service as a result. Staff lateness is still an issue and although the provider picks these issues up through their call monitoring system, further improvements are needed to manage these issues more affectively.

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

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 18 April 2019) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations

At our last inspection we recommended that the provider seek guidance about consent. At this inspection we found the provider had put in place the right authorisation documents about consent.

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 the service and ask for an action plan asking how they will immediately begin to improve.