About the service:

• Caremark Lambeth is a home care agency that was providing personal care to people living in their own homes in the community.

• The agency supports people who are living with dementia, have physical disabilities or a learning disability.

• At the time of our inspection four people aged 50 and over received a home care service from this agency.

People’s experience of using this service:

• People receiving a home care service from this newly registered Care Quality Commission (CQC) agency consistently received good outcomes.

• The service meets the characteristics of a good service and therefore we have rated them ‘Good’ overall and for all five key questions, ‘Is the service safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?’

• People told us they were happy with the overall standard of care and support provided by this home care agency. The following quote we received from a relative of someone who used the service sums up how most people felt about this home care agency, “My [family member] and I have both been very happy with the home care service Caremark (Lambeth) have given us since we joined them…It’s the best home care agency we’ve used.”

• People received a home care service from staff who were in the main suitably trained and supported to meet their personal care needs.

• However, staff who supported a person with autism had not received any specific autistic spectrum disorder awareness training, which the manager agreed staff would benefit from completing. We have made a recommendation about staff receiving learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder awareness training.

• People were protected from avoidable harm, discrimination and abuse.

• Risks to people had been assessed and was regularly reviewed to ensure people’s needs were safely met.

• Staff were usually punctual and never missed their scheduled visits.

• Appropriate recruitment checks took place before staff started working for the service.

• The agency had procedures in place to reduce the risk of the spread of infection.

• Accidents and incidents were analysed for lessons learnt and these were shared with the staff team to reduce further reoccurrence.

• Where people needed assistance with taking their prescribed medicines this was monitored and safely managed in line with best practice guidance.

• Staff routinely sought the consent of the people they supported.

• Managers and staff were knowledgeable about and adhered to the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.

• People were supported to maintain a balanced diet where staff were reasonable for this.

• People received the support they needed to stay healthy and to access health care services as and when required.

• People received support from staff who were kind and compassionate.

• Staff treated people they supported with dignity and respect.

• Staff ensured people's privacy was always maintained particularly when they supported people with their personal care needs.

• People were supported to do as much as they could and wanted to do for themselves to retain control and independence over their lives.

• People needs and wishes were assessed and planned for.

• People, and where appropriate their relatives and professional representatives, were involved in discussions and decisions about how the home care service they would receive from this agency.

• People’s care plans were personalised and routinely reviewed to ensure they remained up to date.

• People's concerns and complaints were dealt with by the provider in an appropriate and timely way.

• No one receiving a home care service required support with end of life care, however there were procedures in place to make sure people had access to this type of care if it was required.

• The provider had effective systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the home care service people received