London Care (Queensbury)

Updated 28 June 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 1 inspector and 1 Expert by Experience who called people and relatives after the visit to the office. 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.

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. However, during this inspection the registered manager was not available, and we were supported by the regional manager and Head of Quality and Governance.

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.

Inspection activity started on 7 June 2023 and ended on 15 June 2023. We visited the location’s office on 7 June 2023.

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 spoke with 8 people, 3 care workers, 1 field care supervisor, regional manager, and Head of Quality and Governance. We reviewed 4 people’s care records and 4 staff files. We undertook checks of people’s medicines records, and we reviewed the provider’s quality monitoring processes and other records relevant to the management of the service.

Updated 28 June 2023

About the service

London Care (Queensbury) is a domiciliary care agency which is providing personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection London Care (Queensbury) was providing the regulated activity of personal care to 24 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 the service provided person-centred care that met their needs. They told us care was delivered with kindness and respect. People had been involved in the planning of their care. as were their relatives as appropriate. 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 although improvements were needed in relation to associated records.

People told us they felt safe receiving the service and policies and systems were in place to help protect people from the risk of harm, abuse, and improper treatment. Risks had been identified to both those people that used the service, and staff. Medicines were administered following best practice.

People's nutritional and hydration needs were met. Care plans were detailed and individual to each person which helped staff deliver person-centred care. Regular reviews had taken place with people to ensure the service not only met their needs but that the quality was as expected.

People told us they felt engaged, involved with the service, and listened to. They told us they received a flexible and responsive service.

Staff told us they felt supported, and we saw that they had been safely recruited, appropriately inducted, and trained, and that their competency to perform their role, assessed. People told us they had confidence in the staff's abilities and that they treated them with compassion.

Systems were in place to oversee and assess the quality of the service and the registered manager understood their regulatory responsibilities.

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 14 February 2018)

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 information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.