Background to this inspection
Updated
24 February 2022
The inspection
We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.
Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people using the service and staff.
Inspection team
The inspection team consisted of two inspectors and two Experts 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
Graceful Care – Wandsworth 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 we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 28 January 2022 and ended on 11 February 2022.
What we did before the inspection
The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.
We used information gathered as part of monitoring activity that took place on 19 November 2021 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements. We also reviewed the intelligence we held about the service such as statutory notifications and information received from people. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location’s office. We used technology such as telephone and video calls to enable us to engage with people using the service and staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation.
We spoke with 27 people who used the service, seven relatives and six staff members including the registered manager and director of operations.
We reviewed a range of records. This included ten people’s care records. We looked at and reviewed multiple documents submitted by the provider. These included policies and other information relevant to the running of the service.
Updated
24 February 2022
About the service
Graceful Care - Wandsworth is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes and flats.
At the time of our inspection, 75 people were receiving personal care and support. The Care Quality Commission (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
We received mixed feedback about staff timings and attendance to calls. People and their relatives complained about staff punctuality on calls which left them unhappy. The electronic system used to monitor staff attendance on their calls did not always work as intended and office staff had to manually log visits. Despite this, there had not been any missed calls. The registered manager and the provider knew about the problem and told us they were working to resolve the issue.
People were happy with the care and support provided by the service. Comments included, “I feel completely safe and well looked after by them”. “The care is very good and I’m more than happy with it.” And “[Person] is happy with the carers and as safe as can be.”
People’s needs were met. A relative told us, “[Staff] support [person] well.” Staff knew how to identify and report abuse and had received training in safeguarding of vulnerable people. Risk assessments were carried out on people’s health and plans put in place for staff to provide care safely. The provider undertook safe recruitment checks to ensure suitable staff were employed at the service. People received the support they required to take their medicines safely. Staff knew how to minimise the risk of infection when providing care.
People received support to eat and drink healthily. Staff were supported to undertake their roles through induction, training and supervision. Staff involved people in making decisions about their care and support needs.
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.
People were treated with kindness and respect and their dignity and privacy maintained. Comments included, “They are patient, kind and most of all they actually care about his well-being” and “We get on like a house on fire.” The majority of people told us they received support from a consistent team of staff who knew them well.
People received care in the manner they preferred, and staff respected their choices. People were supported to be as independent as practicable. People and their relatives felt confident to make a complaint if they were unhappy with the care provided.
People using the service and their relatives were complimentary about the management of the service. People were asked to provide feedback about the service. Systems were in place to monitor the quality of care people received.
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 19 March 2019 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This was the first inspection for the service.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
This was an ‘inspection using remote technology’. This means we did not visit the office location and instead used technology such as electronic file sharing to gather information, and video and phone calls to engage with people using the service as part of this performance review and assessment.