Archived: Gloucester Homecare Services

During this inspection we found good arrangements in place to ensure consent was gained from people before care was delivered. Staff had discussed the importance of obtaining this within staff meetings and what to do if they could not gain consent. They had also completed training on the MCA 2005 to improve their knowledge.

We found the registered manager had a good understanding of the MCA 2005 in terms of the services provided and what this meant in practice. The registered manager had also started to gather better information from relatives who held power of attorney as to what type of attorneyship they held. For example was this for property and finances or health and welfare or both.

The above improved arrangements meant that the service was able to demonstrate that consent for care had been sought and that legal requirements under the MCA 2005 were met.

People were happy with the care they were receiving as were the relatives. One person said 'They are careful to maintain what dignity I have left' and another said 'Oh they are very good and always turn up when expected'. These comments were agreed with by others spoken with. There were arrangements in place to ensure people's medicines were managed safely, although the care staff did not administer any oral medicines to the people we met.

There were arrangements in place to obtain the views of people and to act on these and to learn from situations and incidents.

Inspection of the care records and people's comments confirmed that a good process was in place to ensure people's needs were both fully assessed and that their care/support was well planned. We spoke to people who use the service by phone and all confirmed that they were happy with the care being provided. When talking about the staff one person said "they are lovely, they have become friends". People confirmed that staff arrived at the time stated in their care plan and stayed for the agreed length of time. One person said "I know exactly who is due to come".

The agency also communicated with and worked alongside other providers and professionals to ensure people's needs were met. Good recruitment practices were in place and staff either already held appropriate qualifications when they joined the agency or were provided with training once recruited. Appropriate up date training was provided. Although staff received support from the registered manager, when they needed it, arrangements for formal staff supervision needed to be put in place.