Grove Care Agency Limited

Grove Care Agency is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to one person at the time of this inspection. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. Care Quality Commission (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

Staff were knowledgeable about the person they supported. They understood the level of support the person required and how this support was to be provided. They were aware of risks to their health, safety and wellbeing and who to contact for support should they be concerned about the person’s mental health.

However, care records were sparse and did not contain information in line with staff’s knowledge. If a new member of staff was to support the person there was a risk they would not have access to appropriate detailed information about risk management and the person’s support needs because this was not adequately recorded.

Safe recruitment practices were not in place meaning there was a risk that people were supported by staff that did not have the skills, experience and competency to undertake their duties. The provider had not obtained two suitable references and an up to date disclosure and barring service check prior to employment

Whilst staff told us they had received training and were well supported in their roles, we were not provided with documented evidence to support the completion of training. Supervision sessions were informal and not documented. Therefore, we could not be assured that there were adequate systems in place regarding staff support.

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. The person receiving care was involved in decision making and staff listened to how they wished to be supported. Staff knew how to support people to meet their specific needs in relation to protected characteristics defined by the Equality Act 2010.

Staff provided any additional support with meal preparation, access to healthcare appointments and medicines appointments in line with the person’s wishes.

Systems were in place regarding incident management, safeguarding adults and complaints.

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

Rating at last inspection:

This service was registered with us on 10/10/2018 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

The provider confirmed they had started providing personal care to a person from February 2021. This inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about the quality of documentation submitted when the provider confirmed they were operating. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to good governance, staffing and recruitment at this inspection.

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 for 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 return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.