Gentle Healthcare Services

Updated 18 May 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.

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 homes.

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 the service was managed by the provider who was planning to apply for registration with the CQC.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider would be available to support the inspection when we visited.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since it was registered with us. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people who used the service and one relative about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the manager and three members of staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included care records, medicines management procedures, staff files in relation to recruitment and training data and quality assurance processes.

Updated 18 May 2022

About the service

Gentle Healthcare Services is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. This service specialises in supporting people of Asian ethnicity. At the time of the inspection, out of a total number of six people, three people were receiving personal care.

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 

We found evidence during our inspection for a breach of regulation and the need for this provider to make improvements.

Risks to people's safety were not always identified to ensure staff were provided with guidance on the support people required to be safe. Systems in place to support staff were not consistently applied which resulted some staff lacking knowledge to perform their duties effectively. Quality assurance processes in place were not always effective to support the running of the service making sure people received safe care. This meant people using the service had been placed at unnecessary risk of harm.

Records in relation to staff recruitment were not always appropriately maintained to help the provider to make safe employment decisions. We made a recommendation about this.

People felt safe supported by the staff who knew them well. Infection control processes were in place and followed in line with government guidance. People's medicines were managed safely.

People were supported to eat and drink according to their choices and cultural needs. The staff team were aware of the actions they had to take should people's health needs deteriorate and they required medical support.

People felt well cared for by staff who respected them. Choice and control was provided for people making sure they participated in the decision making process about their care delivery. People were supported to keep their private information confidential.

Although people's care plans were not always detailed enough, staff were aware as to how they needed to meet people’s individual needs. The provider planned to update people's care records as necessary. Systems were in place to manage complaints appropriately.

Staff, people and relatives told us that the management team were approachable and that they had good communication to ensure effective care delivery.

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

Rating at last inspection

This was the first inspection of the service since it registered with the CQC on 28 November 2017.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on when the service was registered with us and stared providing regulated activity.

The overall rating for the service is requires improvement because we found evidence that the provider needs to make improvement.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.

We identified three breaches in relation to safe care, staffing and governance systems. This was because the provider failed to ensure they always consistently managed the risks associated with people's care and staff's support. The provider did not always operate the governance systems effectively.

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

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.