Background to this inspection
Updated
8 February 2020
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 Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people living in their own homes.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. The registered manager was also the provider. This means that they 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. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. We also wanted time to obtain contact details of people who used the service and relatives, where appropriate.
Inspection activity started on 20 January 2020 and ended on 22 January 2020. We visited the office location on 20 January 2020.
What we did before the inspection
We used the information we held about the service to plan the inspection. This included checking for any statutory notifications that the provider had sent to us. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We asked the local Healthwatch for any information they had which would aid our inspection. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.
As part of the inspection we spoke with three people who used the service and three people’s relatives. This was to establish their views and feedback about the care and support they received.
During the inspection
During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager and viewed a range of records. This included extracts from three people’s care records. We also looked at quality assurance records and two staff information files.
Following the inspection visit, we spoke with three staff.
Updated
8 February 2020
About the service
Gold Standard Care Limited provides personal care and support to 11 people living in their own homes at the time of the inspection.
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
People were very satisfied with the service provided by the agency and they received safe and effective care and support to meet their individual needs.
People were protected from harm as staff were confident to recognise and report abuse, and risks were routinely identified and safely managed. People received their medicines safely.
People received consistent support from a small team of staff who were well trained to meet their individual needs and who provided a responsive service as people’s needs changed.
Staff were safely recruited to ensure they were appropriate, and a good match, to support people who used the service. Staff were well supported to deliver good care.
People’s needs were assessed and documented and care plans were detailed so staff could deliver effective support based upon their individual needs.
People received support to eat and drink in line with their dietary needs and preferences. Staff worked with health and social care professionals to ensure consistency so people received appropriate and safe support.
Staff were caring and respectful, promoting people’s privacy, dignity and encouraging their independence.
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 sought people’s consent before supporting them and decisions about people’s care and treatment were made in line with law and guidance.
People knew how to raise a concern and always felt listened to. Information could be made available in different formats to make it accessible.
The service was very well managed. People who used the service had regular contact with the registered manager and staff had opportunities to share their views about the service. Staff felt listened to when they shared feedback.
The registered manager checked the ongoing quality of care provided by delivering hands on care and through feedback questionnaires. The registered manager was developing auditing tools as the service grew and these were identifying areas where the registered manager would like to progress.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection
Rating at last inspection
This was the first inspection for this agency since registering with CQC in January 2019.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.