London Ondcare Services Limited

Updated 23 August 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.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in a ‘supported living’ setting, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

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

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 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 09 June 2023 and ended on 19 June 2023. We visited the location’s office on 09 June 2023 and visited the supported living service property on 12 June 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We requested feedback from the local authority and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. Healthwatch told us they had not visited the service or received any comments or concerns.

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 spoke with each person’s relatives about their experience of the care provided. We observed care and support in communal areas as people were not able to verbally give feedback about their care. We spoke with a healthcare professional. We spoke with 7 members of staff including care staff, senior care staff, the registered manager and the nominated individual. 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 each person's care records. We looked at 6 staff files in relation to recruitment, staff supervision and training. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits, policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 23 August 2023

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.

About the service

London Ondcare Services Limited is a service providing personal care in a supported living property in South London. There were 3 people receiving support at the time of the inspection.

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

Right Support

The size and structure of the service was in line with the principles of Right support, right care, right culture. Staff delivered care and support in a person-centred way that offered people choice, control and independence.

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.

Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community. Staff communicated with people in ways that met their needs.

Right Care

New staff were not always adequately checked to ensure they were suitable to work with people to keep them safe. Medicines were not always managed safely. We found no evidence that people had been harmed. However, systems were not robust enough to demonstrate staff recruitment and medicines were effectively managed. The provider’s auditing systems had not identified the recruitment and medicines issues.

Staff and people worked together to assess risks people might face. Where appropriate, staff encouraged and enabled people to take positive risks. People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs.

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs. People’s care, treatment and support plans reflected their range of needs, and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life.

Right Culture

People were supported by staff who understood best practice in relation to the wide range of strengths, impairments or sensitivities people with a learning disability and autistic people may have. This meant people received compassionate and empowering care that was tailored to their needs. Staff knew and understood people well.

Staff were responsive, supporting people’s aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing. Staff placed people’s wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did. People and those important to them, were involved in planning their care. People’s quality of life was enhanced by the service’s culture of improvement and inclusivity.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 18 January 2022 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This is the service’s first inspection since registering with the Care Quality Commission.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to medicines management and safe recruitment practice at this inspection. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

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