Guardian Care & Support Ltd

Updated 13 March 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team: The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type: Guardian Care and Support Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes and specialist housing.

Not everyone using Guardian Care and Support Limited receives a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. For these people we also take into account any wider social care provided.

The service had a manager registered with CQC. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection: We gave the service 48 hours' notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the management team are often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

Inspection site visit activity was started and completed on 7 February 2019. We visited the office location to see the registered manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did: Before the inspection we reviewed information available to us about this service. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse; and we sought feedback from the local authority that worked with the service. Providers are required to send us key information about their service, what they do well and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We received this information and took it into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection we spoke with the provider, who is also the registered manager, the care manager and two care staff. We spoke with three people who gave consent for us to visit them in their own homes and received written feedback from another person and four relatives.

We looked at seven people's care records including medication administration records and a selection of documentation about the management and running of the service. This included recruitment information for three members of staff, staff training records, policies and procedures, complaints and staff rotas.

Updated 13 March 2019

About the service: Guardian Care and Support Limited is a domiciliary care agency. This service provides care and support to young disabled adults and older people, either living with their family, in care or independently. They can provide companionship and assistance with household tasks, everyday activities, and personal care. There were 35 people being supported at the time of our inspection.

People’s experience of using this service: We received very positive views from people about the support provided to them. Without exception, people said they felt safe and staff were respectful.

People received their medicines safely and on time and their health was well managed. Staff had positive links with healthcare professionals which promoted people’s wellbeing.

People said they received care in a timely way from a regular team of care staff. Relatives said the service was reliable and efficient. They had good communication with the office and were given information about which staff would be making their visits each week.

Staff had received appropriate induction, training and support to enable them to carry out their role.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The registered manager and care manager worked with the staff team and led by example to ensure people received a good service. People, relatives and staff told us the management team were approachable and listened to them when they had any concerns. All feedback was used to make continuous improvements to the service.

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

Rating at last inspection: Good (report was published 24 August 2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.