Caring Hands East London Ltd

Updated 11 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 conducted 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

This service 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 not a registered manager in post.

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 nominated individual or would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 17 August 2023 and ended on 6 September 2023. We visited the location’s office on 17 August 2023.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 (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 this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spent 1 day in the office location reviewing documentation and discussing this with the nominated individual and deputy manager. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We reviewed a range of records. This included care records of 8 people using the service. We looked at 11 staff files in relation to recruitment. We also looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service. After the site visit, we spoke with 2 people using the service and 8 relatives about their experiences of the care provided and 8 care workers.

Updated 11 October 2023

About the service

Caring Hands East London Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to adults in their own homes. The service provides support to people living with a range of needs including people living with dementia, an eating disorder, a physical disability or a sensory impairment. At the time of this inspection, the service was providing personal care to 87 people.

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

People and their relatives were satisfied with the care provided by Caring Hands East London Ltd. People were involved in making decisions about their care. There were systems in place to help safeguard people from the risk of abuse. Risks to people were assessed and monitored. Recruitment processes were robust and there were enough staff working at the service. The service had permanent staff and used trained bank staff when additional staff was required. Medicines were managed safely. Staff were provided with personal protective equipment (PPE) and received training to help protect people from the risk of cross infection.

There were systems in place to ensure lessons were learned and shared with staff when things went wrong. People's needs were assessed before they began using the service so the provider knew they could meet their needs. Staff received inductions and shadowed experienced staff members before they began supporting people, so they knew what to do when they started working with people.

People's communication needs were met. People were supported with activities to avoid them feeling isolated. There were systems in place to investigate complaints and make improvements to the service. Systems to monitor the quality and safety of the service were in place. Staff reported having a positive relationship with the provider and felt communication was effective.

Quality monitoring systems allowed for the effective monitoring of the service by the provider. People and staff were pleased with how the service was managed. The management team was open to change and improvement and wanted what was best for people. The nominated individual and the deputy manager knew about their duty of care and regulatory requirements. People were able to engage with the service and provide feedback about the care. Staff could provide input into the service through meetings and supervision.

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 this service was good (published 3 August 2021)

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, responsive and well-led only for those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

Follow up

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