# Care at Home Services (South East) Limited – Canterbury, Herne Bay and Whitstable

*Operated by Care at Home Services (South East) Limited.*

Care at Home Services (South East) Limited – Canterbury, Herne Bay and Whitstable is a CQC-regulated home-care agency in Herne Bay.

## CQC Ratings

| Key question | Rating |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | Requires improvement |
| Safe | Requires improvement |
| Effective | Good |
| Caring | Good |
| Responsive | Good |
| Well-led | Requires improvement |

Rating published: 24/06/2023

## Practical info

- Postcode: CT6 7GQ
- Registered manager: Foster, Laura
- Local authority: Kent
- Region: South East
- City: Herne Bay
- Last CQC check: 24/Jun/2023 - 00:00

## Inspection findings

### Other

- Finding
  - Evidence: Accidents and incidents were recorded and reviewed to identify patterns.
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- Finding
  - Evidence: The registered manager worked in partnership with the local authority and healthcare professionals.
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- Finding
  - Evidence: People were supported to maintain independence and staff worked within MCA principles.
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- Finding
  - Evidence: People felt involved in their care planning and reported staff were kind, caring and respectful.
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- Finding
  - Evidence: Staff followed safe infection control practices and had access to adequate PPE.
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- Finding
  - Evidence: Safe recruitment practices were in place, including full employment history, references, and DBS checks.
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- Finding
  - Evidence: People were supported by a regular staff team who knew them well, with staff generally arriving on time.
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- Finding
  - Evidence: People were protected from the risks of abuse by staff trained to recognise signs and report concerns, including to external agencies.
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- **staff_competency** _(moderate)_
  - Evidence: The process to assess staff competency was not consistently robust. The quality of the assessments varied.
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- **staff_training** _(moderate)_
  - Evidence: Staff refresher training was not up to date. The registered manager had recognised this and was taking action address this.
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- **governance** _(critical)_
  - Evidence: Checks and audits were not consistently robust. Some of the shortfalls found during the inspection had not been identified by the registered manager and management team.
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- **care_planning** _(moderate)_
  - Evidence: Care plans lacked detail about individual health conditions. For example, signs that could indicate a decline in health.
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- **care_planning** _(moderate)_
  - Evidence: some risk assessments lacked detail. For example, when people had a catheter to drain urine from their bladder, there was no information to alert staff to possible signs of infection.
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- **medication_management** _(moderate)_
  - Evidence: When people needed medicines on an 'as and when' basis (PRN), there were no PRN protocols in place. Staff did not follow the provider's PRN policy.
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- **medication_management** _(moderate)_
  - Evidence: when people were prescribed pain patches, staff did not always record where the patches had been removed from and where they had been replaced. Body maps were not used in line with best practice.
  - Published: 2023-06-24

### safe

- Finding
  - Learning lessons when things go wrong
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- Finding
  - Preventing and controlling infection
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- Finding
  - Staffing and recruitment
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- Finding
  - Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuse
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- Finding
  - Using medicines safely
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- Finding
  - Assessing risk, safety monitoring and management
  - Published: 2023-06-24

### well_led

- Finding
  - How the provider understands and acts on the duty of candour; working in partnership with others
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- Finding
  - Promoting a positive person-centred, open, inclusive and empowering culture
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- Finding
  - Engaging and involving people using the service, the public and staff
  - Published: 2023-06-24
- Finding
  - Managers and staff being clear about their roles, quality performance, risks and regulatory requirements
  - Published: 2023-06-24

## Source

Data published by the [Care Quality Commission](https://www.cqc.org.uk/) under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Canonical page: https://homecarecompass.co.uk/agency/1-608368256

HomeCare Compass is an independent guide and is not affiliated with the CQC.