Topaz Care and Support Company Limited

Updated 3 October 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 carried out by 1 inspector and an Expert 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

Topaz Care and Support Company Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats and specialist housing.

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

The inspection was announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. Inspection activity started on 15 August 2023 and ended on 16 August 2023. We visited the location’s office/service on 15 August 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information we already held about the service. This included the last inspection report and notifications. A notification is information about important events, which the provider is required to tell us about by law. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager, 1 care coordinator, 2 clinical leads, 1 information officer, 1 service manager, and the nominated individual who was responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

The service mostly supported children under 18. Therefore, we spoke with their relatives who could speak on their behalf. We spoke with 1 person and 7 relatives for their feedback on the service.

We reviewed documents and records that related to people’s care and the management of the service. We reviewed 6 care plans, which included risk assessments. We looked at other documents such as those for staff training and recruitment.

After the inspection we spoke with 2 staff by telephone and continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 3 October 2023

About the service

Topaz Care and Support Limited is a domiciliary care agency located in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It is registered to provide personal care to people in their own homes. The service supports adults aged 18 years and over, and children aged up to 17 years, all of whom may have mental health needs, learning disabilities, physical disabilities and sensory impairments. At the time of the inspection, 13 people, including children, were using the service who 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.

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.

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

Right Support

People and relatives told us the service was safe. Safeguarding processes were in place to protect people, including children, from the risk of abuse. The provider recruited staff appropriately and checked they were suitable to support people. Risks to people's health were monitored so staff could support them safely and protect them from coming to harm. People were supported with their medicines. People told us staff were punctual and completed the tasks required to support them. There was a procedure for reporting incidents and accidents in the service and learning lessons to prevent re-occurrence. Infection control procedures helped protect people and staff from the spread of infections. Staff had received training to ensure they had the necessary skills and qualifications to provide support to people. Staff told us they were supported by the management team to perform their roles to the required standard.

Right Care

Assessments of people’s needs were carried out before they started using the service. People's consent to receive care was sought and confirmed. 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. Care plans recorded people’s needs and preferences. However, we have made a recommendation for the provider to ensure care plans that had been developed to support children and young people in the service, were more personalised. People’s nutrition and hydration needs were assessed and monitored so they could be supported safely to maintain a balanced diet. People’s communication needs were assessed and staff were able to communicate with people effectively. Staff supported people to maintain their independence. Details of health professionals involved in people’s care were included in care plans. Staff worked with other professionals to ensure people received the care they needed.

Right Culture

The caring values and ethos of the service helped empower people in their daily lives. People and relatives told us the service was well managed and there was a positive and involving culture. Staff were kind and respectful towards people and their relatives. People’s privacy, human rights and dignity were respected. Their equality and diversity characteristics were understood. They were supported to maintain social connections and attend activities in the community. People and relatives were able to express their views about the care provided. There was a procedure for complaints to be investigated and responded to. Feedback from people and relatives was received and acted upon. There were quality assurance systems in place for the provider to continuously improve the service.

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 good, (published on 21 June 2018).

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Topaz Care and Support Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

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