About the service Ian Gibson Court is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in a 'supported living' setting. Support was provided to older people who may have other physical and mental health needs. 45 people were living at the service and Ian Gibson Court were providing support to 21 people at the time of the inspection.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The provider had a quality assurance system in place but this did not always drive the necessary improvement in relation to care records, including risk assessments. We have made a recommendation about this.
Despite this, people felt safe receiving care from Ian Gibson Court. Staff had a good understanding of safeguarding adults from abuse. There was enough staff to meet people’s needs and staff had been recruited safely. The management of medicines was safe and improvements had been made to medicine records.
People were supported to have enough to eat and drink. People were supported to access healthcare professionals when appropriate. Staff told us they received support and training to ensure they could carry out their roles effectively.
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 supported by staff who were kind and caring. People were encouraged to be as independent as possible and people’s dignity and privacy was protected by staff.
Improvements had been made to people’s care plans and included information to reflect the needs, preferences and choices of people. Further work was needed to ensure all information in people’s care plans was up to date and the registered manager acknowledged that end of life care planning was an area for development.
People were helped to avoid social isolation because they were supported to access the community and people were provided with regular care staff. People told us they felt comfortable to complain but had not needed to and that the service was flexible and would re-arrange visits to meet individual needs.
Staff spoke positively about the culture and management of the service and people told us they were happy with the service they received. Feedback from people was sought and any areas for developing the service were acted on. The service worked in partnership with other agencies to promote and support people’s wellbeing.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 10 October 2018). A breach of regulation in relation to maintaining accurate and detailed records about people was identified. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found the service had improved and was no longer in breach of this regulation. However, further work was needed and we have made a recommendation about this.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Ian Gibson Court on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.