Green Care Services

Updated 4 June 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection visit was conducted by one inspector. In addition to the visit to the office, we contacted people using the service, their representatives and staff to ask for their feedback and experiences. Telephone calls to people using the service and their relatives were made by 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.

Service and service type:

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to older adults and younger disabled adults.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small, and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

Telephone calls to people who used the service and their relatives took place on 19 March 2019. We visited the office location on 27 March 2019 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did:

Before the inspection we looked at all the information we held about the provider and also public information from the provider's own, and other, websites. We contacted the local authority commissioners to ask for their views of the service.

We spoke with five people who used the service and four relatives of other people.

During the visit to the office location we met the registered manager (also the owner of the company), the care coordinator and two care assistants . We also received additional feedback from a third care assistant by email. We looked at the care records for four people who used the service, four staff files, records of staff training and meeting minutes, information about medicines management, records of complaints, incidents and accidents and the provider's quality assurance records.

At the end of the inspection we gave feedback about our findings to the registered manager.

Following the inspection visit we spoke with one external professional who supported one person using the service.

Updated 4 June 2019

About the service: Green Care Services is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes in the London Borough of Hounslow. At the time of the inspection 13 adults were receiving personal care from the agency. The agency provided support to younger adults with a learning disability and physical disabilities. They also provided care to older adults, some who were living with the experience of dementia. The agency was a private company, and this was their only location. The owner was also the registered manager.

People’s experience of using this service :

People using the service were happy and well cared for. They were cared for in a way which reflected their preferences and met their needs. They liked the care assistants and told us they were polite, caring and kind. The care assistants arrived on time and stayed for the right length of time for each visit. People received their medicines in a safe way. They were involved in planning their care and making choices about this.

The staff were well supported and enjoyed working for the agency. They had access to a range of suitable training and had the skills they needed to care for people. The provider's recruitment procedures made sure only suitable staff were employed. They regularly met with their manager and discussed their work and any queries they had. The registered manager assessed the staff in the work place to make sure they were following procedures and delivering effective care.

There were procedures designed to safeguard people from abuse, and the staff were familiar with these. The staff recorded any accidents, incidents or complaints and these were investigated and responded to. The staff were provided with protective clothing, such as gloves and aprons.

There were systems in place for monitoring the quality of the service and making improvements. The registered manager liaised with people using the service, relatives and staff to ask for their feedback and ideas. There were a range of suitable policies and procedures which the people using the service and staff had access to.

Rating at last inspection: This was the first inspection of the service since it was registered on 29 April 2018.

Why we inspected: We inspected the service as part of our scheduled programme of inspections based on the date of registration.

Follow up: We will continue our ongoing monitoring or the service and visit again in line with our schedule of inspections based on the rating of Good, or sooner if needed.

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