Archived: Dimensions West London Domiciliary Care Office

On our inspection of 7 June 2013 and 5 July 2013 we found the provider had made improvements in the areas that had been identified. Care plans had been revised and updated. These incorporated people's individuals support needs and consideration had been given to involving people in the development of their care plans.

We found one location where people lived was being managed by the Assistant Operations Director on a temporary basis until the newly appointed manger commenced employment in July 2013. Experienced staff had been designated to work with people and support them according to their care plan.

During the course of our inspection we received concerning information from the local safeguarding team regarding two people who used the service. We visited some people in their homes to talk to them and to find out about their care. We found that the service was failing to ensure their safety and welfare. We have referred our concerns to the police and local safeguarding authority for further investigation. We will continue to monitor the service to ensure improvements are made.

Relatives of people told us " I am happy with the care my relative receives" another person told us " they seem to use lots of agency staff and although they try, sometimes they do not understand my relatives needs. Its not fair on my relative because they need consistency to ensure they do not become anxious or upset."

We found looking at care records and talking with staff, people were not always involved in the planning of their care and due to staffing levels were not able to participate in individual activities.

We found care planning and risk assessment was not always completed robustly. We found that safeguarding referrals had been made to local authorities where people's care needs had not been met. We found that in some cases there was insufficient information in people's care records to ensure their needs were appropriately met.

We looked at incident records spoke with staff and found that people were protected from the risk of abuse because the provider did have suitable arrangements in place.

We found that there was not always sufficient staff on duty with the right skills to meet peoples needs.

We found there was an effective complaints process.