Kensington Home Care

During an assessment under our new approach

We carried out our on-site assessment on 9 May 2024, off site assessment activity started on 8 May 2024 and ended on 14 May 2024. We looked at 95 evidence categories within 34 quality statements. The service performed well against the majority of statements we looked at. There were areas for improvement in evidence categories linked to timeliness of care calls, cultural awareness of staff and future care planning. Safeguarding procedures and policies were in place and implemented effectively. Risks were regularly reviewed following a detailed pre-assessment process and proactive work with other health and social care partners. People and their relatives were involved in care planning. The provider has a ‘visiting officer’ role in place and this proved effective in understanding people’s needs from the outset. 6 monthly reviews were used to assess how people were finding the service and if any changes needed to be made. The visiting officer worked closely with the care co-ordinator and registered manager; the team had a strong understanding of people’s needs. Staffing levels were sufficient to keep people safe, although there were times when staff arrived late for care calls, or did not stay the full time. Rotas were well planned and the registered manager was working to reduce the number of delayed calls, and to improve communication in this regard. The majority of people who used the service described positive experiences, with carers being kind and respectful. Where particular concerns were raised about standard of food preparation. The registered manager acted on these. The registered manager worked well with local partners. They had suitable experience in social care and led the service strongly. They acknowledged they could do more to explore links with other community organisations or educational establishments and were responsive to feedback.

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