Archived: Golden Services

Updated 30 December 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check 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 the 5 November 2015 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice of our intention to inspect the service. This is in line with our current methodology for inspecting domiciliary care agencies. The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

At the time of the inspection there were 31 people being supported by the service. Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included notifications about important events which the service is required to send us by law. The provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give us key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. The provider sent us a list of people who used the service. We sent questionnaires to 29 people who use the service and their relatives, 22 members of staff and 12 professionals and received 22 back from people that use the service, five from their relatives, four from staff and two from professionals.

During the inspection we captured the experiences of a sample of people by following their path way through the service and sought their views. We spoke with four people who were using the service and two people’s relatives. We received feedback from two community professionals. We spoke with two care workers, two senior care workers, a manager and the registered manager. We reviewed six people's care files, records relating to staff and the general management of the service.

Updated 30 December 2015

We inspected Golden Services Care Limited on 5 November 2015. This was an announced inspection. The service provides domiciliary care services to people who live in their own home. At the time of our inspection there were 31 people using the service with a variety of care needs, including people with physical disabilities, mental health needs and end of life care.

The service had a registered manager. 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.

People said they felt safe. People had risk assessments in place to address any areas of concern to people’s safety. Staff were confident in knowing when to report any safeguarding concerns and had received training on recognising signs of abuse. Medication, where needed was monitored and administered safely. Staff had received checks before they started working to ensure they were safe to work with people.

Staff had the skills, knowledge and necessary training to be effectively offer the required support to people. Staff had support when they joined the service to understand the job requirements and had ongoing regular support by management. Staff received training prior to working with people and as needed during their employment. People said they had regular carers who knew them well. Staff felt valued and respected and were proud of being able to deliver a caring service to those they supported in the community. The service worked closely with community social and health care professionals. Staff understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and how to use this in their care of people to ensure people had choices.

People described the care they received as excellent. They were supported by regular staff who knew them well and told us staff treated them with dignity and respect. People and their relatives were involved in assessing their care needs and any changes required. Staff spoke of the importance of providing a caring service and stated that the people they supported were the most important. They were reported to have ‘gone the extra mile’ to ensure people were cared for. Staff said the manager was a positive role model who had high expectations of staff and ensured they delivered a personalised and highly caring service. Staff said they felt proud of the role they played in the community. People were supported with compassion and dignity at the end of their lives.

People, their families and professionals were involved with assessing what support was required and the care plans reflected those support needs. The service responded efficiently and flexibly when people’s needs changed and worked closely with all social care and health professionals to ensure appropriate support was provided.

The registered manager had systems and processes in place to ensure the service was monitored effectively and these were checked regularly. Feedback was sought from people, their families and professionals on a regular basis. The CQC was notified appropriately of important events that affected people or the service. Staff were appreciative and positive about the support they received from the management team.