Archived: The Good Days Project

Updated 4 April 2017

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.

We undertook an announced inspection of The Good Days Project Limited on 23 February 2017. We told the registered manager two days before our visit that we would be coming because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we wanted to ensure the registered manager was available.

Before the inspection visit we reviewed the information we held about the service, including notifications of incidents that the registered provider had sent us and feedback from the local authority. The service was not asked to complete a provider information return (PIR) for this inspection because we had changed the inspection date. A PIR asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

At our last inspection in January 2015 the service was meeting the regulations inspected at that time.

At the time of this inspection the agency was supporting four people who wished to retain their independence and continue living in their own home. Some people had their care purchased by NHS continuing healthcare team, some were funding their own care through direct payments and others were paying privately for the service.

The inspection team consisted of one adult care inspector and an expert-by-experience. An expert-by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The expert by experience had experience of supporting and caring for people with severe learning disabilities and/or behaviour that is considered to be challenging.

On 20 and 21 February 2017 we spoke with five relatives of people who used the service and eight support workers over the telephone.

On 23 February 2017 we visited the agency office and spoke with the registered manager and assistant manager. We also reviewed a range of records about people's care and how the domiciliary care agency was managed. These included care records for two people, including their medicine administration record (MAR's). We also looked at two staff training, support and employment records, quality assurance audits and findings from questionnaires that the registered provider had sent to people.

Updated 4 April 2017

There was a manager at the service who was registered with CQC. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Our inspection was discussed and arranged with the registered manager two days in advance. This was to ensure we had time to contact the families of people who used the service, contact staff who worked at the service and speak with the registered manager.

Staff were aware of their responsibilities in keeping people safe and had received training in safeguarding and whistle blowing.

Staff had a good understanding of the procedures for the safe administration of medicines and had completed formal training in this.

There were sufficient numbers of staff employed to make sure people received care and support at the frequency they had agreed to.

Staff recruitment policies and procedures helped to keep people safe. This was because thorough checks were completed for all staff before they were offered a post at the service.

Staff were enthusiastic and keen to do a good job, but this was being soured slightly for some staff by their perception of a lack of communication between management and the team.

The service followed the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 Code of practice and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. This helped to protect the rights of people who were not able to make important decisions for themselves.

Staff spoke very positively about the training they had completed and said this had helped them to become more confident in their role.

Relatives told us the support workers were, “Kind,” “Patient” and “Caring.”

People's care plans contained consistent up to date information about their care and support, including risk assessments and action plans. These were regularly reviewed and updated in line with the person's changing needs.

People felt able to tell staff if there was something they were not happy with. We saw there were systems in place to manage complaints.

There were systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided. Regular checks and audits were undertaken to make sure full and safe procedures were adhered to