The Care Quality Commission
  • Services in your home
  • Homecare service

Archived: Cura Care Limited

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

30 Heath Road, Twickenham, Middlesex, TW1 4BZ (020) 8892 9222

Provided and run by:
Cura Care Limited

Important: This service was previously registered at a different address - see old profile

All Inspections

21 July 2015

During a routine inspection

We carried out an inspection of Cura Care Limited on 21 July 2015. This was an announced inspection where we gave the provider 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to ensure someone would be available to speak with us.

Cura Care Ltd provides a range of services to people in their own home including personal care, companionship and shopping in Twickenham and the surrounding areas. At the time of inspection there were 19 people receiving personal care.

A registered manager was in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People who used the service told us they felt safe. Staff had received training about safeguarding and knew how to respond to any allegation of abuse. Staff were aware of the whistle blowing procedure which was in place to report concerns and poor practice.

There were sufficient staff employed to provide consistent and safe care to people, with people receiving care from the same small team of staff.

People received their medicines in a safe way and staff had received training in the types of medicines people received. Staff recorded medicines taken by people in an appropriate medicines record sheet.

Staff had received training and had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Best Interest Decision Making, when people were unable to make decisions themselves. They also received other training to meet people’s care needs.

Staff helped ensure people who used the service had food and drink to meet their needs. Some people were assisted by staff to cook their own food and other people received meals that had been cooked by staff.

Staff knew people’s care and support needs. Care plans were in place detailing how people wished to be supported and people were involved in making decisions about their care. There were regular visits and spot checks carried out by the service to monitor the quality of service and the care practice carried out by staff.

People told us that staff were kind, caring and efficient.

People who received care remained independent and in control of their decision making and choices. People had access to health care professionals to make sure they received appropriate care and treatment. The service maintained accurate and up to date records of people’s healthcare and GP contacts in case they needed to contact them.

A complaints procedure was available and people we spoke with said they knew how to complain, although most people said they had not needed to. Where complaints had been received they had been satisfactorily resolved. The service maintained records of compliments and complaints and recorded how these were resolved.

People had the opportunity to give their views about the service. There was regular consultation with staff, people and/or family members and their views were used to improve the service. Regular audits were completed to monitor service provision and to ensure the safety of people who used the service.

9 January 2014

During an inspection looking at part of the service

Our inspection of the 29th May 2013 found that some people were at risk of receiving poor care and treatment because some people's individual care needs were not being fully assessed before a service began. Staff were providing care to some people before their needs had been identified or reviewed. Some staff had not received adequate training to support people with complex health and social care needs and were not sufficiently prepared where people were very ill or receiving end of life care support.

We wrote to the provider and asked them to send us a report of the changes they would make to comply with the standards they were not meeting. We returned in January 2014 as part of a follow up inspection to ensure that changes had been made. We found that improvements had been made.

We spoke with six care staff and asked how they had been prepared for their work. We asked about the information, support, advice and guidance staff had received to care for people with complex needs.

We spoke with three people who used the service. One person said "Someone from Cura Care came to see me; they asked me about my care". Another person said "I was visited by the manager who talked to me about the service and asked what I needed".

We looked at assessment plans. These showed that people were assessed prior to a service commencing. We asked the manager whether Cura Care was accepting referrals from integrated health teams. We were told this was no longer happening.

29 May 2013

During an inspection looking at part of the service

Our inspection of the 10th January 2013 found that some people were at risk of receiving poor care and treatment for a variety of reasons, including lack of assessment, inadequate staff training and a lack of quality monitoring of the service. We returned in May 2013 and found that some improvements had been made.

We spoke with four staff and asked how they had been prepared for work. We asked what information, support, advice and guidance staff had received to care for people with complex needs and those that were very ill or receiving end of life care. We found that staff were sometimes not well prepared for their roles. We asked two staff what action they would take if a person they were caring for with palliative care needs died during their visit, or while caring for the person. One staff member said "I don't know, I'm not sure, I suppose I'd have to dial 999 and call for an ambulance".

We looked at how staff were being recruited, inducted and trained and found that improvement had been made. We saw improvements in how medication was managed and staff had a greater awareness and understanding of consent and how to safeguard and protect vulnerable adults. We spoke with six staff who told us about their experiences of recruitment. Each were asked to provide relevant documents. Appropriate checks were undertaken before staff began work.

The manager made available results of a recent client satisfaction survey. We read several positive comments about the service.

10, 11 January 2013

During a routine inspection

We visited Cura Care Ltd offices and looked at records and service documentation. We spoke with six people and their families who were receiving a service from Cura Care Ltd. People told us that they received a flexible and bespoke service. One person said "I receive exemplary care from them", while someone else told us "they have helped turn my life around".

We spoke with five staff and the manager who told us about the service. We asked about the care, support, welfare and treatment of people using the service. While people using the service spoke highly of Cura Care Ltd. we had concerns in how the service was being managed and monitored. There was a lack of recording of information related to care plans and medication records, and reviews were not taking place. The quality of the service and care provided was not being monitored or measured and there was a lack of audit to demonstrate how the organisation was developing or improving its service. We found that the recruitment, selection and employment of staff was not robust and certain employment checks were not being followed up or recorded, including previous work references. Many staff employed at Cura Care Ltd had little or no previous health and social care experience in working with vulnerable older adults. Staff were expected to care for people with complex needs, often without having completed an induction, or any relevant health and social care training, including how to safeguard and protect vulnerable adults.