Graceage Care Colchester

Graceage Care is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in the own flats and houses. At the time of our inspection there were 26 people using the service. Everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive 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

At the time of inspection, the service had only been operating for 3 months. The provider did not yet have robust systems in place to have good oversight of the service. Care plans and risk assessments did not always contain enough information, and the service did not have audits in place to monitor the quality of the service being provided.

We have made recommendations about the assessment and monitoring of risk and the assessment and recording of people's care and support needs.

Peoples medicines were managed by staff, however, audits were not undertaken to ensure people were receiving their medicines as prescribed. Staff were recruited safely and in line with best practice guidance, and all staff had received training to complete their roles appropriately.

The providers understanding of people’s capacity, and capacity assessments was minimal, however, additional training and guidance was being sought to improve this. Care plans contained basic information about people’s likes and preferences, and were more task focused. People’s end of life wishes had not always been considered or documented in their care plans. People gave us mixed feedback about staff preparing food and drink.

People told us staff were kind and respectful, encouraging their independence. People spoke positively about the care they received, and the staff providing their care. People were asked for input on their care plans when they were reviewed.

The registered manager was open and transparent, and demonstrated great enthusiasm in looking to improve the service, and the care provided to people. The provider worked well with external agencies to drive improvement, and people and families’ feedback was actively sought. The provider had commissioned an external consultant to help identify improvements needed within the service.

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 did not always support this practice.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 16 November 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.

Enforcement

We have identified a breach in relation to governance and oversight at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

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