Green Care Contracts Limited

Updated 16 May 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 consisted on one inspector

Service and service type:

Green Care Contracts Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living within their own homes in the community.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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 notice of the inspection visit because it is small, and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

Inspection site visit activity started and ended on 05 April 2019. This included visiting the office location to speak with the registered manager, interview staff and to review care records and policies and procedures. After the initial visit we then contacted people and professionals by telephone and email to obtain feedback on the service.

What we did:

Prior to inspection, we reviewed the information we held about the service, including notifications of events the service is required by law to send us. We checked records held at Companies House.

The provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. The information provided by the provider was used to plan our inspection and considered when we made judgement in this report.

On the day of inspection we reviewed:

• Four people’s care records including medication records

• Four staff files

• Audits and Surveys from the people and their relatives

• Staff training records including supervisions and staff meeting minutes

• Documentation about the management of the service

We spoke with:

• Registered manager

• Office staff

• Two care staff

• Four people who used the service

• Two relatives of people who used the service

• Written feedback from one professional

Updated 16 May 2019

About the service:

Green Care Contracts Limited provides personal care for people living at home. At the time of our inspection there were 9 people receiving personal care.

People’s experience of using this service:

People received care from regular staff who were appropriately trained. This continuity of care was appreciated by the people. Feedback from people and relatives we spoke to told us that staff always visited and had never missed a call. On a few occasions staff had arrived later than planned, but the people were always informed of this, and felt reassured that care staff would attend.

People confirmed that staff carried identification and wore uniform, so they were confident in who was visiting. People told us they were treated with dignity, were spoken with in a respectful way and the staff were kind.

People and relatives knew the registered manager and were confident in the management of the service. People received a comprehensive Service User Handbook with details about the service they could expect to receive. People were provided with information on how to make a complaint and systems were in place to respond appropriately.

People confirmed the registered manager visited them for the initial care assessment and the regular reviews of their care. People told us they were involved in their care planning and discussed their needs, which made the care person-centred. The registered manager was hands-on, working alongside staff to observe and monitor the care provided, with spot checks to ensure standards were maintained.

Staff received regularly supervision and met as a group for staff meetings. Staff were positive about the training and the support received from the registered manager. Staff told us they enjoyed working for the service.

Feedback from an external professional was positive, stating that communication with the service was good and referrals were made in a timely manner.

Rating at last inspection: Good (report published 4 October 2016)

Why we inspected: This was a scheduled inspection based on the previous rating

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

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