Archived: The Link Care Nursing Agency Ltd

Updated 25 November 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This announced inspection took place on 12 October 2017. The inspection team consisted of a single inspector, who visited the office and an expert by experience who spoke with people using the service or their relatives by telephone. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Prior to our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the provider. This included notifications received from the provider about deaths, accidents and safeguarding. A notification is information about important events that the provider is required to send us by law. The provider also completed a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to the inspection which we reviewed. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also contacted the local authority responsible for commissioning the service to obtain their views. We used this information to help inform our inspection planning.

As part of our inspection we spoke with the registered manager, care coordinators and four care workers who visited the office, to gain their views about the service. The expert by experience spoke with six people using the service and four relatives by telephone to gain their views of the service they received. We looked at the care plans and records of five people using the service, six staff records including training, supervision and recruitment records and records relating to the management of the service such as policies and procedures.

Updated 25 November 2017

This inspection took place on 12 October 2017. We told the provider 48 hours before our visit that we would be coming, as we wanted to make sure the registered manager and office staff would be available. At the time of our inspection there were approximately 130 people using the service.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living within their own homes in the boroughs of Bexley and Bromley. It provides a service to adults, older people, people living with dementia, physical disability and or sensory impairment.

At our last inspection of the service on 8 and 9 December 2015 the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good and they demonstrated they continued to meet the regulations and fundamental standards.

At this inspection there was a registered manager in post. 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.

Care plans were in place to support people where risks to their health and well-being had been identified. There were appropriate safeguarding procedures in place. Recruitment checks took place before staff started work and there was enough staff to meet people’s needs. The registered manager and staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and acted according to this legislation. Staff had completed an induction when they started work and received training relevant to the needs of people using the service. Care plans detailed people’s nutritional and support needs. People were supported to access to health and social care professionals when they needed them.

People were provided with information about the service. People said staff were caring and their privacy and dignity was maintained. People were consulted about their care. People were aware of the complaints procedure. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided to people. The provider took into account the views of people using the service. Staff said they enjoyed working at the service and they received good support. There was an out of hours on call system in operation that ensured management support was available to people and staff when required.