18 April 2023
During an inspection looking at part of the service
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.
Care Organiser is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in supported living schemes across London. At the time of the inspection 25 people were receiving personal care in 9 schemes. 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
Right Support: Model of Care and setting that maximises people’s choice, control and independence
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive ways possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
Right Care: Care is person-centred and promotes people’s dignity, privacy and human rights
People received the right support in relation to risks, such as those relating to a learning disability, although risks relating to evacuating individuals at night had not always been recorded. There were enough staff to support people. The provider checked staff were suitable to work with people through recruitment checks although checks of gaps in employment histories could be improved. Staff received training in infection control practices, including the safe use of personal protective equipment (PPE). People received the right support in relation to their medicines and the provider had oversight of this through electronic systems and audits.
Right Culture: The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.
The provider had not always notified CQC of significant events as required by law. The concerns we found had not always been identified by the provider which meant their oversight could be improved. The registered manager and staff understood their roles and responsibilities, although improvements could be made in relation to the areas where we found concerns. The registered manager engaged and consulted well with people using the service, relatives, and staff. Staff were well supported by the provider.
We did not inspect the key questions of effective, caring and responsive. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Care Organiser on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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 the service was requires improvement with a breach relating to notifications to CQC (report published February 2022).
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted to check improvements had been made since our last inspection.
Enforcement
We have identified a breach in relation to submitting notifications as required by law. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report. Having a breach meant the highest possible rating for this inspection is requires improvement,
Follow up
We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.