Archived: London Care Abbotswood

Updated 29 January 2021

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is bought or rented and is the occupant’s own home. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support service.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure 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 carried out a monitoring call with the registered manager. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We spoke with two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with a shift leader and care worker about their experiences of working at the service.

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We reviewed feedback provided by people in their reviews. We spoke with the registered manager and regional manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We spoke one person about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with one recently recruited care worker about their experiences of joining the team.

Updated 29 January 2021

About the service

London Care Abbotswood provides care and support to people living in specialist 'extra care' housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is rented or owned and is the occupant's own home.

Not everyone who lived at London Care Abbotswood 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. There were 32 people receiving care and support at the time of this inspection.

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

People and their relatives spoke positively about the service and the caring nature of the staff. A relative said, “I think they are amazing, absolutely amazing. I can’t stress how wonderful it is. A lot of them go beyond their duty.” A paramedic practitioner who worked closely with the service shared, “I have only ever witnessed good care being given and a very positive approach to care by the carers, with great interaction between them and the residents.”

People felt safe with the staff who supported them. Risks to people had been identified and assessed and were managed safely by staff. Staff supported people to take their medicines or reminded them when they were due. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, staff had received additional training in infection prevention and control. The provider had clear systems to reduce the risk and spread of infection and we observed some of these in practice.

People considered the service was well-organised. The registered manager provided a visible presence and was available to people if they wished to discuss their care. People were encouraged in their involvement and development of the service and their feedback was valued. Quality assurance systems were in place to measure and monitor the standard of the service and drive improvement. Areas of concern identified at our previous inspection had been addressed.

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 (22 May 2020) and there were two 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.

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the management of medicines, people’s care needs, safeguarding and confidentiality. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions 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. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

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.