Archived: Independent Clinical Services Limited Also known as Thornbury Community Services

Updated 24 August 2022

Independent Clinical Services trade as Thornbury Community Services (TCS). The organisation provides commissioned care services across the United Kingdom and is owned by the Acacium Group. The service has offices across the country and delivers care and treatment within the community. The organisation also run a staffing agency that did not fall within the scope of this inspection as we do not regulate this type of service.

Our visit focused on the community care that TCS provides to people in their own homes. The service supplies registered nurses and carers to Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), case managers and private individuals providing care for clinically complex service users in their own homes.

The service provided support to people with complex conditions for example people who required complex and high-intensity care. Within the service there was a specialist team providing support to people with mental health needs, learning disabilities and/or Autism.

There were two registered managers in post at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service.

This service was last inspected in March 2016. Following this inspection, we inspected the service as good overall and outstanding in responsive.

Updated 24 August 2022

Independent Clinical Services Limited, trading as Thornbury Community Services, delivers specialist health care to people of all ages in the community.

Our rating of this service improved. We rated it as outstanding because:

• The needs and safety of people who used Independent Clinical Services were at the centre of everything that staff did. The service had successfully embedded a proactive and person-centred approach to managing people’s risks. This included specialist support provided to people with mental health needs, learning disabilities, and/or autism and people with complex safeguarding concerns.
• Comprehensive systems and processes were in place to ensure people received safe care in the community. Staff used learning from incidents to improve safety wherever possible. Staff only provided care and treatment with the necessary training and skills. Medicines were well managed.
• People were truly respected and valued as individuals. People were very positive about the service and were empowered as partners in their own care, practically and emotionally. Staff went above and beyond to provide meaningful support to service users, families and carers and found ways to meet their wider social and emotional needs.
• Services were tailored to meet the needs of individual people and were delivered in a way to ensure high levels of flexibility, choice and continuity of care. The service planned care to meet the needs of each individual service users and proactively sought people’s feedback. People could access the service when they needed it, in some emergency cases this was within 24 hours.
• The leadership, governance and culture were used to drive and improve the delivery of high-quality person-centred care. Leaders ran services using sophisticated information systems to monitor service performance and inform improvement plans. The service’s vision and values had been translated into an ambitious strategy. Staff felt respected, supported and valued and were clear about their roles and accountabilities. The service proactively engaged with service users, staff and wider stakeholders and used feedback to plan and manage services to a high standard. All staff were committed to improving services continually.
• Staff provided care and treatment that met national guidelines and best practice. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of service users, advised them on how to lead healthier, more independent lives and supported them to make decisions about their care.

Updated 24 August 2022