Churchill Health Care (Harrow)

Updated 14 March 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 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

We gave the service 48 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 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 reviewed the care records for eight people, and eight staff records. We reviewed a range of records relating to quality assurance and management of the service. We spoke with twelve staff including the registered manager, director, care coordinator, field care coordinator and care staff. We received feedback from two people and six relatives.

Updated 14 March 2023

About the service

Churchill Health Care (Harrow) is a domiciliary care agency. The agency provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community in the London boroughs of Harrow and Ealing. There were approximately 82 people using the service at the time of our inspection, most of whom were living with conditions associated with ageing, including dementia. 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.

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

Care staff were safely recruited, and essential pre-employment checks had been carried out. The provider had acted to address concerns we found at our previous inspection about staff punctuality when attending care visits. An electronic call monitoring and care recording system had been introduced and this had led to improvements in people receiving care in a timely manner.

People were protected from potential risks. Risks to people’s health and wellbeing had been assessed. Risk assessments contained guidance for care staff on minimising risks to people.

There were suitable arrangements to ensure that people received their medicines as prescribed. Care staff had received medicines administration training and knew how to administer medicines safely.

People’s care needs had been assessed. They and their representatives, where appropriate, had been engaged in the development of care plans and risk assessments. Regular reviews of care took place. The provider’s electronic care recording system ensured staff were immediately notified of any changes in people’s needs.

People were protected from the risk of abuse or harm. Care staff had received training on how to safeguard people. They were aware of their responsibilities if they suspected that people were at risk of abuse or harm.

People who used the service had been treated with dignity and respect. They and their relatives told us they felt safe when supported by care staff.

People were aware of the provider’s complaints' procedure and knew how to complain or raise concerns. The service’s records indicated that complaints had been responded to.

The provider had made improvements to their quality monitoring system. Regular audits and reviews of care and safety had taken place.

Staff had worked closely with other health and social care professionals to ensure people’s needs were met.

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 the service was Requires Improvement (published on 30 July 2021) 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 reviewed its communication with staff to ensure they received up to date information about people’s needs. At this inspection we found the provider had acted on this recommendation and had made improvements.

Why we inspected

We carried out an announced focused inspection of this service on 8 June 2021. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve staffing and good governance.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Responsive and Well-led which contain those requirements.

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 Churchill Health Care (Harrow) 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.