Goldsmith Personnel Limited (East London)

Updated 6 July 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 22 and 23 May 2018 and was announced. The provider was given 24 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure someone would be in. One inspector carried out this inspection.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We looked at the evidence we already held about the service including notifications the provider had sent to us. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We also contacted local authorities who used the service to obtain their view about the service.

During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager, reviewed six people’s care records including risk assessments and care plans and reviewed seven staff records including recruitment and supervision. We looked at records relating to how the service was managed including staff training, medicines, policies and procedures and quality assurance documentation. After the inspection we spoke with five people who used the service, one relative and three care staff.

Updated 6 July 2018

Goldsmith Personnel Limited (East London) is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own flats and houses in the community. At the time of this inspection 75 people were receiving personal care and support.

This inspection took place on 22 and 23 May 2018 and was announced. At the last inspection in March 2016, the service was rated as overall Good but we found one breach of the regulations because recruitment processes were not robust. During this inspection, we found improvements had been made.

There was a registered manager at the service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Staff were knowledgeable about safeguarding and whistleblowing procedures. The provider had safe recruitment processes in place to ensure staff were suitable to work with people. The provider used a call monitoring system to ensure visits to people were not missed. Risk assessments were carried out to mitigate the risks of harm people may face. There were systems to manage people’s medicines. People were protected from the risks associated with the spread of infection.

People had an assessment of their needs to ensure the provider could meet their requirements. New staff received induction training at the start of their employment and staff were offered regular training opportunities. Staff were supported with regular supervisions to ensure they could deliver care effectively. People were supported to eat a nutritionally balanced diet and to maintain their health. The provider and staff knew about their responsibility to obtain consent from people before delivering care.

Staff described how they developed caring relationships with people they supported. People and their relatives were included in decision making about the care that was delivered. Staff were trained in equality and diversity. People’s privacy and dignity was promoted and their independence was maintained.

Care records were personalised and contained people’s preferences. Staff understood how to deliver a personalised care service. The service had a complaints procedure and complaints were dealt with appropriately. People and their relatives knew how to make a complaint if they were not happy with any aspect of the service. The provider kept a record of compliments made to the service.

People and their relatives spoke positively about the service. The provider had a system to obtain feedback from people and their relatives about the quality of the service in order to make improvements where needed. Staff had regular meetings so they could contribute to the development of the service. The provider carried out spot checks and quality assurance checks of the work of staff to monitor the quality of the service being delivered. The provider worked with other agencies to share good practice and find ways to make improvements to their service.

We have made one recommendation about specific health conditions. Further information is in the detailed findings below.