Archived: Goodwood Homecare

Goodwood Homecare is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. It provides a service to older adults some of whom are living with dementia.

Not everyone using Goodwood Homecare received a regulated activity. CQC only inspects the service received by people provided with 'personal care': for example, help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection 27 people were receiving the regulated activity of personal care.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and the provider did not always support them in the least restrictive way possible or in their best interests; the application of the policies and systems was inconsistent and did not always support good practice.

The provider had quality monitoring procedures in place. However, these did not identify appropriate assessments of capacity to make decisions were not completed when necessary.

People were protected from the risks of ill-treatment and abuse as the staff team had been trained to recognise potential signs of abuse and understood what to do to safely support people. The provider had assessed the risks to people associated with their care and support. Staff members were knowledgeable about these risks and knew what to do to minimise the potential for harm to people.

People received safe support with their medicines by staff members who had been trained and assessed as competent. Staff members followed effective infection prevention and control procedures when supporting people.

The provider supported staff in providing effective care for people through person-centred care planning, training and one-to-one supervision. People were supported to refer themselves to additional healthcare services when required.

People received help and support from a kind and compassionate staff team with whom they had developed positive relationships. People were supported by staff members who were aware of their individual protected characteristics like age, gender and disability.

People were provided with information in a way they could understand. The provider had systems in place to encourage and respond to any compliments or complaints from people or those close to them. The provider, and management team, had good links with the local communities within which people lived.

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 ‘Good’ overall with ‘Requires Improvement’ in the key question ‘Well-Led,” (published 11 July 2017). At this inspection we found improvements were still needed in this key question.

Enforcement

We have identified one breach of regulations in relation to obtaining consent for care. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.

Goodwood Homecare is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. On the day of our inspection 27 people were using the service.

The provider of Goodwood Homecare is registered as an individual and therefore there is no requirement for a registered manager to be in post. The provider is the owner of the service and is responsible for day to day management. The provider is the registered person and has legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Although a system was in place to assess the quality of the service provided this had not been effective in addressing the poor record keeping we found. The manager had a business development plan in place where they had already identified that their quality systems needed improvement.

People received care which protected them from avoidable harm and abuse. Risks to people’s safety were identified and measures were in place to help reduce these risks.

Staff were available to respond to and meet people's needs safely. Checks were completed on potential new staff to make sure they were suitable to support people in their own homes. People received the support they needed to help make sure they received their medicines when they needed them.

Staff had received training to give them the skills and knowledge they needed to meet people's needs. These skills were kept up to date through regular training and staff were supported in their roles by managers and their colleagues.

Staff asked people’s permission before they helped them with any care or support. People’s right to make their own decisions about their own care and treatment were supported by staff.

People were supported by staff who knew them well and had good relationships with them. People felt involved in their own care and that staff listened to what they wanted. People were treated with dignity and respect and staff understood how important this was in the way they cared for people.

People received care that was individual to them. Staff recognised when people’s needs changed and arrangements were put into place for care needs to be reviewed and reassessed as appropriate.

People and their relatives were encouraged to give feedback about the quality of care they received. They were happy that their opinions were listened to and improvements made to their care as a result.

People were happy and positive about the service they received. Staff were motivated to provide the best care they could and they understood the needs of the people they supported. Staff were happy in their work and were clear about their roles and responsibilities; they felt supported by management and involved in the development of the service.