We carried out a review of the data available to us about Unit 4, Bentinck Court on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Unit 4, Bentinck Court, you can give feedback on this service.
Unit 4, Bentinck Court, also known as Parkins Care Angels, is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to mostly older people living in their own homes in the London Borough of Hillingdon. It also supports some adults who are living with dementia and adults with disabilities. At the time of our inspection the service was providing care and support to 70 people. 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
The provider had not always operated robust monitoring systems to ensure the effective management of record keeping, personal data and the timeliness of people’s care visits.
The provider had made improvements to how the service was managed and the care people received. These included improvements to risk management plans to help minimise the risk of harm to people, their care plans and care staff training.
People told us they felt safe and the majority of people found their care staff experienced, caring and capable. Some people felt new staff were less experienced and competent.
There were systems and processes in place to protect people from the risk of harm. The provider recruited staff using safe recruitment processes.
Staff received supervision and training and felt supported by the registered manager and senior staff. Staff told us they enjoyed their work and were proud to work for the organisation.
People were supported to maintain their health and access healthcare services. Staff worked with other agencies to provide people with joined up care. People received their medicines as prescribed. There were arrangements in place for preventing and controlling infection.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
We have made recommendations about the systems and management of staff timeliness and data.
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 5 November 2019) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.
Why we inspected
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 20 August 2019. 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 safe care and treatment, person-centred care 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.
The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. 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 Unit 4, Bentinck Court on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
Unit 4, Bentinck Court, also known as Parkins Care Angels, is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to mostly older people living in their own homes in the London Borough of Hillingdon. It also supports some adults who are living with dementia, adults with learning disabilities and adults who have physical disabilities. At the time of our inspection the service was providing care and support to 96 people. 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
People told us they felt safe. However, the provider had not always assessed the risks to people's health and well-being or done all that was reasonably practicable to lessen those risks.
People's care and risk management plans set out the care tasks they required help with, but some people’s plans did not provide personalised information about people and their preferences for how they liked to be supported. The provider did not always record how staff were to meet people’s communication needs.
There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and recognise when improvements were required. These were not sufficiently robust to have identified the issues we found in relation to the management of risks to individuals' health and wellbeing and care planning.
We received positive feedback from people and their relatives about using the service. One relative said, “They’re very reliable, there’s a lot to be said for that. We’re never let down or anything, that's so important.” People said staff were caring and treated them with dignity and respect. Staff sometimes provided extra support and assistance to people when this was not part of people's contractual care arrangements.
The provider made sure there were enough staff to support people and staff usually at people’s homes arrived on time. Staff received induction, training and supervision and felt supported in their roles.
The provider sought feedback from people, relatives and staff and used this to develop the service. People and staff were confident they could raise any concerns they had with the registered manager.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
Adult social care professionals told us managers were responsive to and worked in partnership with other agencies to meet people’s needs.
We discussed the areas of concern with the registered manager during the inspection and they started to put systems in place to make the required improvements.
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 Good (published 8 March 2018) with one breach of regulations. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection enough improvement had not been sustained and the provider was still in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
The overall rating for the service has changed from Good to Requires Improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection where we found evidence the provider needs to make improvement. Please see the safe, responsive and well-led sections of this full report.
Enforcement
We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment, person-centred care and good governance. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
Follow up
We will request an action plan for the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 27 and 31 August 2017 when we found three breaches of legal requirements regarding staff recruitment, risk management and the way the provider monitored quality in the service and made improvements. After the comprehensive inspection, the provider sent us an action plan dated 26 September 2017 to say what they would do to meet legal requirements in relation to the breaches.
We undertook this announced focused inspection on 15 February 2018 to check that they had followed their plan and to confirm that they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. We inspected the service against two of the five questions we ask about services: is the service Safe and Well-Led?
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Unit 4 Bentinck Court on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
No risks, concerns or significant improvement were identified in the remaining Key Questions through our ongoing monitoring or during our inspection activity so we did not inspect them. The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for these Key Questions were included in calculating the overall rating in this inspection.
Unit 4 Bentinck Court is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to older people and younger adults with a physical or learning disability. At the time of this inspection the service was supporting 73 people. The registered manager left the service in December 2017 and the provider appointed a new manager who had applied for registration with the Care Quality Commission. 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.
Not everyone using Unit 4 Bentinck Court receives a regulated activity. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’ - help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do receive this support we also take into account any wider social care provided.
We found the provider had taken action to address the concerns we had following our last inspection. However, they did not always notify the Care Quality Commission of significant events and incidents affecting people using the service. This was a breach of Regulation 18 of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009.
You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.
The provider had taken action to ensure their assessments of risks to people using the service were up to date and regularly reviewed. They carried out checks on new care workers to make sure they were suitable to work with people using the service.
The provider had systems in place to protect people from abuse and care workers completed safeguarding training.
People using the service received the medicines they needed safely and the provider had systems to prevent and control infections.
The provider had improved the ways they monitored quality in the service and identified areas that needed improvement.
The provider had appointed a manager and they had applied to the Care Quality Commission for registration.
The service provides personal care to 94, mostly older, people living in their own homes. 24 people were funded by the local authority and other people funded their own care.
The service had a manager who was registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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.
We found three breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 as the provider did not always check new staff before they started to work with people, did not review and update their assessments of possible risks to people and did not operate effective quality monitoring systems to identify where they needed to make improvements.
You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report. Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to any concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.
Care workers received training the provider considered mandatory that enabled them to care for and support people using the service. The provider and registered manager supported care workers with individual supervision sessions and planned to introduce a system of annual appraisals.
Care workers were able to demonstrate that they knew people’s needs well and people’s relatives told us they usually had the same care workers. This ensured continuity of care and relatives told us the care workers had got to know their routines, likes and dislikes. People using the service, their relatives and representatives told us their care workers were caring.
People’s nutrition and health care needs were met and they received their medicines safely.
Care workers were able to tell us about individuals they cared for and supported and they spoke affectionately and caringly about their work with people.
Most people using the service and their relatives told us they received care which met their needs and reflected their care plans. People’s care records included information about their care and support needs, including their health care, personal care, mobility, medicines management and nutrition.
The provider recorded, investigated and managed complaints they received from people using the service and others.
The provider had appointed a qualified and experienced manager who was responsible for the day to day running of the service. People using the service, their relatives and representatives told us they found the provider and registered manager approachable and supportive.
This inspection took place on 6 May 2015. We gave the providers and registered manager three days’ notice of the inspection to make sure they would be available. This was the first inspection of the service since the Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered the providers in September 2013.
Parkins Care Angels Ltd is a limited company providing domiciliary care and support to people in their own homes. Unit 4 Bentinck Court is the company’s only location. When we inspected, the service was supporting 64 people. People using the service were mainly older people although the service also provided support to some younger people with a learning or physical disability.
CQC registered the service’s manager in September 2013. 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.
The provider had systems in place to monitor the standards of care and support people received but these were not always effective. The providers had not identified errors in medicines records and care records. This was a breach of regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.
You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.
People using the service told us they felt safe with and well cared for by their care workers. Their care plans detailed the care and support they needed and people told us their care workers provided this.
The provider made sure there were enough staff deployed to support people safely and in line with their care plans.
Care workers received the training they needed to care for and support people. Where care workers needed refresher training, the providers arranged for this to take place.
People told us their care workers were kind, respectful and caring. People and their relatives said they received consistent care and support from care workers who understood their needs.
When people’s needs changed, the registered manager ensured people received the support they required.
The provider had systems in place to respond to complaints from people using the service.