Emerald Green Care

Updated 19 March 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

This inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

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

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. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 25 February 2020 and ended on 27 February 2020. We visited the office location on 25 February 2020.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service, including notifications received about key events that occurred at the service. 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. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people and two relatives about their experience of care provided. We spoke with 11 staff, including the registered manager, the nominated individual, the director and eight care workers. We reviewed a range of records including three people’s care records, three staff files and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.

Updated 19 March 2020

Croydon (Also known as Emerald Green Care) is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to ten people 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

There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs and safe recruitment practices were in place. Staff assessed and managed risks to people’s safety and welfare. Staff understood the level of support people required with their medicines and adhered to safe medicines management. Staff were knowledgeable in safeguarding vulnerable adults. Incidents were recorded and learnt from. Staff adhered to infection control and prevention procedures.

People were supported by staff that had the knowledge and skills to undertake their duties. Staff received regular training and comprehensive supervision. Where people required it, staff gave people support with their nutritional and health needs. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported people in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff involved people in decisions about their care and respected their opinions. They treated people with dignity and respect and looked after them well. Staff supported people to be as independent as possible.

People told us they received high quality care and they appreciated the support their care workers provided. Clear, detailed and accurate care and support plans were in place, and daily communication logs showed people were supported in line with those plans. Staff adhered to the accessible information standard and would provide information in different formats if this was required. A complaints process was in place and we saw complaints were investigated and handled appropriately.

The registered manager was aware of their responsibilities and had implemented robust procedures to review the quality of service delivery. There was a dedication to continuous improvement and where concerns were identified these were addressed. Staff worked with other health and social care professionals to improve practices and provide coordinated care. The registered manager adhered to their CQC registration requirements.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 22 February 2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection.

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.