GA24Care

Updated 16 March 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 completed by one 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

This service 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

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

Inspection activity started on 22 February 2023 and ended on 27 February 2023. We visited the location’s office/service on 22 February 2023.

What we did before 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 6 people and 4 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 5 care workers, the registered manager and the complex care manager. We sought feedback from 4 health and social care professionals about their experience of working with GA24 Care.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 2 people’s care records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment, training and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 16 March 2023

About the service

GA24Care is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. At the time of the inspection the agency was supporting 32 people, 25 people were receiving support with personal care.

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.

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

Since the last inspection, the provider had taken appropriate action to ensure staff were safely recruited. Appropriate recruitment checks had been completed before care workers started working with people.

Systems to monitor the quality of the service included regular contact with people, their relatives and staff seeking their views on the quality of the service. Staff performance was monitored to ensure they were working in line with the provider’s expectations through regular supervision and spot checks of their work.

People and their relatives spoke positively about the care workers that supported them. They did say that there had been some concerns in respect of late visits, which the provider was addressing. The provider had employed a driver enabling care workers to arrive on time and they had reviewed the allocation of care workers to ensure visits were in close proximity.

People told us they felt safe. Staff felt confident to raise concerns with the registered manager and were aware of external agencies where they could report concerns. Staff supported people to manage their medicines safely where this was needed.

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 had individual plans of care based on their needs and wishes. These were reviewed with the person to ensure the care was appropriate. Staff provided personalised care and support, enabling people to continue to live in their own homes.

Staff spoke positively about the support from the management team. The provider was passionate about ensuring staff had the skills and knowledge to support people. They were investing in courses for some staff to complete a vocational course in health and social care. Champion roles had been developed within the team enabling them to build on their skills and knowledge and drive improvements to people’s care.

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 24 October 2018). There was a breach of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve in respect of the recruitment of staff. 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 they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for GA24Care on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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