16 December 2020
During an inspection looking at part of the service
A&R Guardian Services Limited is a domiciliary care service. The service provides care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection there were 40 people using the service
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 considers any wider social care provided.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People and relatives told us they would recommend the service to others. People were supported by sufficient numbers of reliable staff to meet their needs. This contributed towards them feeling safe.
Risks to people had been assessed including the environment in which they were cared for. People’s care plans had been personalised, provided clear guidance for staff to promote their safety and were kept under review. People were supported with their medicines safely whilst promoting maximum choice and control of their lives.
Staff recruitment processes had been strengthened. Staff training had been updated in relation to promoting people’s safety and wellbeing and the infection prevention and control procedures.
The provider’s business continuity plan had been updated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and had adopted the government guidance to operate a safe service. Staff were trained in the correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE). People were informed about the actions being taken and their individual needs had been considered and kept under review.
The provider had made improvements to the quality assurance systems and processes. The changes to the managerial structure provided clearer responsibilities to monitor the quality of service and to drive improvements. People’s views about their care and the service were sought in a variety of ways. Systems were in place to monitor people’s care, staff performance and safety including incidents, accidents and complaints so action could be taken. The provider had invested in electronic call monitoring system and care planning, accessible to staff using their hand held devices and provided real-time monitoring.
People spoke positively about the registered manager who they found to be responsive, supportive and approachable. The registered manager and provider were aware of their responsibilities in meeting their legal obligations. They worked in partnership with health care professionals and local authorities responsible for monitoring people’s packages of care.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 26 March 2020).
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 17 February 2020. A breach of legal requirement was found. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
We undertook this focused inspection to check improvements had been made and that they now met the legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions of Safe and Well-led which contained the requirements.
The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from Requires Improvement to Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for A&R Guardian Services Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.