Archived: Gozone Care

Updated 12 March 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 19 January 2015 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service; we needed to be sure that someone would be in. We returned on 23 January 2015 to complete the visit.

One inspector and an expert by experience in older people’s services undertook this inspection. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed the Provider Information Return (PIR) and two previous inspection reports. This enabled us to ensure we were addressing potential areas of concern.

We visited the office where we met with the registered manager, three of the management team, and four care workers. We looked at five care records, six staff files, staff training and supervision records, medication administration records (MAR), visit comment sheets, quality feedback surveys, minutes of meetings and staff rotas. We then visited four people in their homes and met with a further three care workers. The following week we telephoned people to ask for their views and experiences. We spoke with 13 people and ten relatives by telephone.

Updated 12 March 2015

This inspection took place on 19 and 23 January 2015 and was announced.

At the last inspection on 8 January 2014, we asked the provider to take action to make improvements in the way that medicines were managed, and this action has been completed.

Gozone care is a domiciliary care service that covers West Sussex. There are four area teams, in Chichester, Billingshurst, Petworth and Pulborough. The agency supports older people, people living with dementia, people with a physical, learning or sensory impairment and those with mental health conditions. They also provide palliative care. At the time of our visit, they were supporting 139 people with personal care. The majority of the people they support are older people, most of whom are privately funded.

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.

The agency’s philosophy of care is, ‘As a family run care agency that encourages freedom of choice and independence, we believe that everyone has the right to enjoy life. We take the time to understand your needs, your likes and dislikes and what makes you tick’. We found that this was people’s experience and that the culture of the agency was open and friendly.

People spoke highly of the support that they received. One said, “They’re absolutely brilliant, I can’t think of one thing to say against them. They have a cracker group of girls there”. Another told us, “We’re very pleased. The carer (male) we’ve got is top of the tree”. They told us that they had confidence in the ability of the staff who supported them. People were involved in planning and reviewing their care and felt that staff listened to them and understood how they liked to be supported.

People felt safe. There were enough staff employed and the rotas were managed effectively. People were usually able to make changes to their call times or durations to suit their needs. Risks to people’s safety were assessed and reviewed. Staff understood local safeguarding procedures. They were able to speak about the action they would take if they were concerned that someone was at risk of abuse. People received their medicines safely and at the right time.

People were treated with kindness and respect. They were each supported by a small team of care workers which meant that they developed good relationships with them. Where people had not felt at ease with the staff supporting them, the registered manager had made changes to the rota to accommodate this. We observed that people got along well with their care workers and were relaxed in their company.

People, their representatives and staff were asked for their views on how the service was run and were invited to make any suggestions for improvement. Ideas and concerns had been acted upon and complaints had been responded to appropriately.

The registered manager had a system to monitor and review the quality of care delivered. This included spot checks on staff as they supported people, gathering feedback via surveys and reviewing records of the care delivered. As the business was growing, the registered manager was making changes to the staffing structure to support this and help ensure that people received safe and appropriate care. One member of staff told us, “It’s the best company I’ve worked for. They really care about people and staff”.