Care Outlook (Hackney)

Updated 10 September 2019

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 team consisted of four inspectors, one assistant inspector and two experts by experience. 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.

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 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 20 August 2019 and ended on 22 August 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since its registration. 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. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager, the director of operations, the contracts manager, one field officer and six care workers.

We spoke with eight people who used the service and 11 relatives.

We reviewed 12 people's care records, six staff personnel files, staff training documents, and other records about the management of the service.

Updated 10 September 2019

About the service

Care Outlook (Hackney) is a domiciliary care service registered to provide personal care support to people with a learning disability, autism spectrum disorder, sensory impairment, people who misuse drugs and alcohol, people with an eating disorder, mental health, older people, physical disability, and younger adults. 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. At the time of the inspection 147 people were receiving personal care support.

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

People and their relatives told us staff were kind and caring. People and their relatives told us they were very happy with the service.

People had regular care staff who were punctual and let them know if they were running late.

Care records were up to date, person centred and comprehensive. Risk assessments were in place. Staff were able to tell us how they cared for people to mitigate these risks. However, end of life care was not always explored.

We have made a recommendation about end of life care.

People and their relatives told us that the service was very responsive to any issues or concerns they had.

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.

The provider had quality assurance systems in place.

People’s cultural and religious needs were respected when planning and delivering care. Discussions with the registered manager and staff showed that they respected people’s sexual orientation so that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people could feel accepted and welcomed in the service.

The provider had a complaints procedure in place.

There were aspects of the service that were well led, but the registered manager was aware they needed to refine and improve some aspects of the assessment process for people.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 14 September 2018 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the date of registration and when the service had begun to provide care to people.

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.