London Care (East London)

Updated 31 May 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 conducted by 2 inspectors and 2 Expert by Experiences. 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

London Care (East London) 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

This inspection was announced. 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

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 15 people using the service and 11 relatives. We spoke with 11 care staff, 1 field supervisor, 1 care coordinator and the registered manager. We reviewed 20 people’s care records including risk assessments and 10 staff files in relation to recruitment. We also reviewed a range of management records including staff training, supervision, medicines, audits and complaints.

Updated 31 May 2023

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

About the service

London Care (East London) is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care. The service provides support to people living in their own home. At the time of our inspection there were 280 people using the service.

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

Right Support

The service made reasonable adjustments for people so they could be fully involved in discussions about how they received support, including support to travel wherever they needed to go. The provider was responsive to people's needs, care plans were personalised and outlined detailed support for staff to be confident in delivering safe care. People were able to make a complaint and were confident this would be addressed. People told us they had care plans and were involved in decisions about their care and support.

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.

Right Care

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs.

Right Culture

People were supported by staff who understood best practice in relation to the wide range of strengths, impairments or sensitivities people with a learning disability and/or autistic people may have. This meant people received compassionate and empowering care that was tailored to their needs. Staff knew and understood people well and were responsive, supporting their aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing. People were supported by staff who were well trained and supported in their role. People told us that care workers were good at their jobs. People and relatives told us the managers were good and the service was well run. Checks about the quality of care were carried out on a regular basis. This meant that any concerns could be dealt with in a timely manner.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 05 May 2021). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted by a review of the information we had about the service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.