Guardian Angel Carers Ltd

Updated 19 September 2023

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by an inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Guardian Angel Carers Ltd is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 3 May 2023 and ended on 19 May 2023. We visited the location’s office on 9 May 2023

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 17 people who used the service and 4 relatives. We spoke with 7 staff members including the registered manager and care staff. We reviewed 4 people's care records and 2 recruitment files. Multiple records relating to the quality, safety and monitoring of the service were reviewed.

Updated 19 September 2023

About the service

Guardian Angel Carers Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. 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 consider any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection there were 70 people receiving personal care from the service.

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

People told us they felt safe when carers visited them and the service they received helped them to keep safe and manage risks. The service carried out risk assessments and put in place measures to reduce the risk of people coming to harm.

People told us staff were kind, caring and thoughtful and that they benefited from having a group of regular carers whom they knew well.

There were sufficient numbers of staff to meet the needs of the people using the service. Staff were recruited safely and had appropriate training for the role.

Medicines were administered, managed and monitored safely.

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 told us they knew how to make complaints and felt confident that the service would act on these. There was a suitable complaints policy in place and a system for investigating and responding to these.

Leadership throughout the Covid-19 pandemic was exceptional. The provider went over and above with ensuring staff moral and health was the best it could be which enabled the service to continue to provide continuous, quality care in the most challenging of times.

There were robust systems in place to oversee the quality of the service and ensure people received consistent high-quality care.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating of this service was outstanding. (Published 22 February 2018)

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.