Caremark Kensington

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

Date of assessment: 5 June to 5 August 2025. At the time of our assessment 61 people were using the service, 54 of whom were receiving support with personal care, including some people with a learning disability and autistic people.

We have assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. We found the provider was meeting the principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

The last rating for this service was good (report published 20 October 2018). We carried out this assessment because the service had not been inspected for a long time. We looked at all the quality statements and the overall rating for this service has changed to requires improvement.

We found the service was in breach of 2 regulations of the Health and Social Care Act (2014)in relation to safe care and treatment and good governance.

The call monitoring logs contained irregularities, including missed and or delayed visits. There was poor management and oversight of staff deployment and a consistent lack of time for staff to travel between home visits. Some people did not receive their care and support as and when planned. Medicines were not always administered and managed in accordance with the instructions from the prescriber, nor in line with people’s risk management plans. Governance systems failed to identify some of the concerns we found during this assessment and, where the provider had identified shortfalls, effective action to make improvements was not being completed in a timely manner or sustained.

Whilst concerns were found on this inspection, the service had recently passed to new owners, who were committed to making improvements. They agreed to provide us with an action plan to demonstrate how they intend to achieve this.

The provider followed robust recruitment procedures and staff were trained and supported well. People had their needs assessed and support packages were compiled to meet their individual requirements. People were supported to live healthy and safe lifestyles and to access healthcare professionals as needed. Staff understood the Mental Capacity Act and made sure people consented to their care and support. People were supported in the least restrictive way possible and had maximum choice and control of their lives. Managers carried out regular spot checks and audits. People were supported to make a complaint if needed and they were listened to and responded to appropriately. People were involved in all aspects of their care and support. Staff encouraged people to do as much for themselves as possible. Information was accessible and available to people in a format suitable for their communication needs. Equality and diversity were promoted and respected for everyone.