Background to this inspection
Updated
28 September 2022
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.
This was inspection was also carried out to check whether the provider had met the requirements of the Warning Notice in relation to Regulation 17 (Good Governance) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.
Inspection team
This inspection was carried out by one 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.
This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was announced.
We gave a short period of notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 30 August 2022 and ended on 2 September 2022. We visited the location’s office/service on 30 August 2022.
What we did before the 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. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We looked at three people's care records and relevant medication administration records. We looked at three staff recruitment files, staff training and supervision records. We viewed a range of records relating to the management and the monitoring of the service. We spoke by telephone with four relatives of people who use the service. We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager and three care staff.
After the inspection, we continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and a range of policies and procedures.
Updated
28 September 2022
About the service
New Hope Care Gloucester is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were ten people using the service.
Not 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
Since our last inspection, improvements have been made to the quality of care, staff training and recruitment and the management of the service. The registered manager had assessed and implemented a range of systems and procedures to help them monitor and improve the service. However, further time was needed to assess whether the systems were effective and also to improve the recording of some of their monitoring processes such as staff observations.
We found progress was being made with staff training and development. Sufficient staff were available and had been safely recruited to meet people’s needs.
Care and risk management plans provided staff with the information they needed to support people safely. Staff safely supported people with their medicines where needed. Further information was needed about the management of people’s prescribed creams to help guide staff in their application.
Staff and the managers were aware of their responsibility to monitor people’s well-being and report any concerns, allegation of abuse and incidents. Concerns or incidents would be reviewed by the managers and any learnings would be shared with staff to help prevent further occurrence.
People received personalised care and were supported to access health care services if their needs changed. 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.
Staff felt supported and valued by the management team. Communication systems were in place to enable people, relatives and staff to engage with the service and managers. The registered manager welcomed feedback from people, relatives and staff to better understand and improve their experiences of the service.
We have recommended the provider seeks guidance on their requirement to display CQC’s performance assessment and overall ratings on their website in a timely manner.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 14 April 2022). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 22 February and 10 March 2022. Four breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment, staffing, and safe recruitment
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This inspection also, included to check whether the Warning Notice we previously served in relation to Regulation 17 (Good Governance) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 had been met.
This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Effective, Responsive and Well-led which contain those requirements.
For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from Requires Improvement to Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for New Hope Care Gloucester on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect and the provider's requirement to display their performance assessment and ratings on their website.