We carried out a review of the data available to us about GA24Care on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about GA24Care, you can give feedback on this 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.
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
People could not be assured that a safe recruitment process had been completed for all staff. This was because not all documentation, such as two references, and obtaining a disclosure and barring before staff started working for GA24Care was in place.
People had care plans that clearly described the support they needed and the times they needed support. Some of the care plans we saw would benefit from additional information such as people’s life history, hobbies and interests. This would aid new care workers to build relationships with people and get to know them. Risk assessments were generic and needed to reflect the needs of the person.
People and relatives felt the care and support was safe. Staff had understood their responsibilities in keeping people safe including where there was an alleged abuse. Medicines were managed safely and administered as prescribed. People said staff turned up on time and stayed for the full duration of the visit.
Recruitment was ongoing to ensure they could meet the needs of their existing clients and take on new packages of care. The senior management team helped provide care to people. This enabled them to get to know people and continually review the care of people, including seeking their views about their care. Moving forward more formalised ways of receiving feedback was being implemented such as surveys and documenting telephone feedback calls.
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 and relatives spoke positively about the staff that supported them. Where concerns had been voiced, the provider had listened and taken action to improve the care package.
Systems were in place to monitor the quality of the care for people. Improvements were needed to ensure these were robust such as ensuring recruitment information was in place prior to employing new staff.
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
This service was registered with us on 30 March 2020 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection to provide the service with a rating.
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.
Enforcement and Recommendations
We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.
We have identified a breach in relation to the failure of ensuring all recruitment documentation was in place prior to staff starting work.
We have recommended the provider review their governance arrangements to ensure systems are in place to monitor all areas of the business.
Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
Follow up
We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.