The Cornhill Group Services Ltd

Updated 4 February 2023

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

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

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of Inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. The registered manager could not accommodate the first two dates we offered, so another date was proposed.

Inspection activity started 14 December 2021 and ended on 12 January 20023. We visited the location’s office on 9 January 2023.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used information gathered as part of a monitoring activity, undertaken on 2 August 2022, to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 2 people who used the service, and 6 relatives of people who were using the service. We also spoke with 1 staff member and the registered manager and received feedback from 5 other staff members. We looked at records relating to the management of the service including care files, staff recruitment files, audits and risk assessments. The registered manager also sent us supporting documents via email before and after our office visit.

Updated 4 February 2023

About the service

The Cornhill Group Services Ltd is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care to people in their own homes. The service provides support to older people with a range of needs. At the time of our inspection the service was providing the regulated activity personal care to 14 people. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People had individual support plans and risk assessment in place and staff knew them well. Safeguarding procedures were in place. Medicines were administered to people safely and as prescribed. Infection control procedures were followed. Staff were recruited safely; however minor improvements were needed to recruitment practices. We have made a recommendation about recruitment.

People's needs were assessed and reviewed in detail before receiving a service. People's health care needs were documented, however more guidance was needed for staff. We have made a recommendation about this.

Staff had the knowledge and experience to meet people's needs. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People and relatives told us people were supported with respect and dignity, and they

had their independence promoted when required. The provider and staff worked in partnership with other health and social care agencies to deliver good outcomes for people and ensure their needs were met.

The registered manager had made a decision to continue to deliver care to people so they could monitor care provision and staff performance. This meant scheduling the inspection was not easy and quality assurance information whilst provided was not always sent in a timely way or easily accessible. This was resolved following the inspection.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

This service was registered with us on 12 January 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.