This responsive assessment was carried out to check if the service had made improvements since our last inspection. My Homecare Redbridge provides care and support to people living in their own home. Not everyone using My Homecare Redbridge received regulated activity; the CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of this assessment, there were 3 people using the service. This assessment was carried with a site visit to the office location. This assessment was carried out by an assessor and a regulatory coordinator. Assessment activity started on 20 May 2025 and ended on 10 June 2025. We looked at 28 quality statements as part of this assessment. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we wanted to make sure someone would be available to support us with the inspection. The site visit was carried out on 21 May 2025. We gathered further information remotely from the service such as staff call logs and policies. We also spoke to relatives of people that used the service and staff after the site visit.
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This targeted inspection of My Homecare Redbridge confirmed the provider had met the requirements of the warning notice issued for breach of Regulation 17 (Good Governance), with improved auditing, care planning, risk assessments and call-monitoring now in place. The overall rating remains Requires Improvement as this inspection only assessed the specific governance concerns and did not re-rate all key questions.
Concerns (3)
criticalGovernance: “Systems were not in place to ensure robust audits were carried out on care plans, risk assessments and ensuring staff attended calls in a timely manner.”
moderateMissed or late visits: “A relative told us, 'They do arrive on time. Timekeeping has improved. It was problematic before.'”
moderateCare planning: “At our last inspection, quality assurance systems were not robust enough to identify shortfalls we found on risk assessments, care planning.”
Strengths
· Audits now being carried out on care plans, risk assessments, medicines and call monitoring logs following warning notice.
· Registered manager audits call logs daily to ensure staff attend calls on time.
· Monthly spot checks completed to ensure staff deliver safe and person-centred care.
· Feedback sought from people and relatives through surveys, telephone calls and spot check visits to drive continuous improvement.
· Registered manager notifies CQC of allegations of abuse, serious injuries or incidents as legally required.
Quality-Statement breakdown (3)
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles, and understanding quality performance, risks and regulatory requirementsInsufficient evidence to rate
well-led: Promoting a positive culture that is person-centred, open, inclusive and empowering, which achieves good outcomes for peopleInsufficient evidence to rate
well-led: How the provider understands and acts on the duty of candourInsufficient evidence to rate
My Homecare Redbridge deteriorated from Good to Requires Improvement overall, with breaches of Regulations 9, 12, 17 and 18 identified, including absent risk assessments, a missing care plan, chronic late calls, and failure to notify CQC of safeguarding allegations (resulting in a Warning Notice for Regulation 17). Caring remained Good, supported by kind, respectful staff and effective medicines management, but governance and oversight failures placed people at risk of unsafe, non-personalised care.
Concerns (8)
criticalCare planning: “We found one person did not have a care plan. There was a referral form which was completed by a local authority.”
criticalGovernance: “Audits had not been completed on care plans. The registered manager told us the last audit was completed in March 2022 and was archived.”
criticalSafeguarding: “We found notifications of safeguarding allegation were not submitted to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as is required.”
criticalMissed or late visits: “Four relatives told us that time keeping was poor and staff can be late by over two hours. A relative commented, "Today (person) is just having lunch at 2:30pm, it should have been at 1:00pm."”
criticalRecord keeping: “We found incomplete records as risk assessments had not been completed in relation to people's health conditions. Care plan was not in place for one person and some were not up to date.”
criticalPerson-centred care: “Pre-assessments had not been carried out in detail to ensure the service was able to provide person-centred support to people.”
moderateSupervision / appraisal: “Regular supervisions had not been carried out for staff to ensure they were supported in their roles. The registered manager told us that supervision should be carried out monthly, but this was not formal.”
moderateCare planning: “Care plans did not include the level of support people would require with nutrition. Information from care agencies and local authority for one person included important information.”
Strengths
· Medicines were being managed safely with MAR charts completed and audits conducted.
· Staff had been trained on safeguarding and understood how to protect people from harm.
· Pre-employment checks including DBS, references and right to work checks were carried out.
· People received care from kind, respectful staff who promoted dignity, privacy and independence.
· Systems were in place to prevent and minimise the spread of infections and staff had access to PPE.
Quality-Statement breakdown (21)
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and managementRequires improvement
safe: Staffing and recruitmentRequires improvement
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
effective: Assessing people's needs and choices; delivering care in line with standards, guidance and the lawRequires improvement
effective: Supporting people to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced diet