Sevacare Lewisham provides care for people in their own homes. When we visited 119 people used the service and they lived in the boroughs of Lewisham, Lambeth, Greenwich, Bexley and Bromley.

The service was last inspected on 27 August and 3 September 2015 when it was at a different address. At that inspection we gave the service a rating of ‘requires improvement’ because there

were two breaches of regulation. Medicines administration records contained errors which increased the risk that people may not receive their medicines as prescribed. Communication with people did not take into account their preferences and needs. We found at this inspection that these areas had improved.

The service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Medicines records were clear and people were protected against the risks of not receiving their medicines as prescribed.

People felt more confident that office based staff took into account their needs and wishes and there was better communication between them than previously.

Safeguarding policies and procedures helped to protect people. Staff were clear on the action to take to protect people if they were concerned that they may be at risk or had been harmed.

Staff recruitment was thorough and this helped ensure staff were suitable to provide care. Staff received training in a range of relevant subjects. People felt confident that staff were experienced and knowledgeable and could provide care properly. There was less confidence in staff they did not know well. Managers were aiming to provide consistent staff to more people so they were familiar with people’s needs and wishes.

Staff and managers were trained and aware of their responsibilities in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Their work observed the act’s principles, including gaining people’s consent to provide care, assuming people had capacity and observing their decisions.

People felt supported by staff they said were kind and they had good relationships with them. Staff were respectful of people’s dignity, privacy and confidentiality.

People were involved in discussions about their support needs and most people were satisfied with the care they received. People knew how to make complaints and when they did so managers did thorough investigations and, when necessary, made changes to improve the care provided.

People and staff told us they were confident in the management of the service. Managers carried out checks and audits to ensure the ongoing quality of care and identify where improvements were needed.