Good Oaks Home Care - Aylesbury

Updated 29 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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and two Experts 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 a short notice period 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 2 March 2023 and ended on 13 March 2023. Two Experts by Experience made telephone calls to people and their relatives on 3 March 2023. We visited the location's office on 8 March 2023. We continued to review evidence until 13 March 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the previous inspection. We also sought feedback from the local authority. We used the information the provider previously 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

During the inspection we spoke with 7 people using the service and 15 family members. We also spoke with 11 members of staff, including 6 care workers, the care coordinator, the care supervisor, the registered manager, the operations director from the franchise head office and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We also received email feedback from 2 additional members of staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 7 people's care and support plans, either in full or in part, as well as people's medicines records where they received support with this task. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment, training and supervision. We reviewed a variety of records relating to management of the service including policies and procedures, accident and incident records, compliments and complaints and audits of the service.

Updated 29 March 2023

About the service

Good Oaks Home Care - Aylesbury is a service providing care and support to people in their own home. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting 39 people. This included both younger adults, people with physical or sensory impairments, and older people. Some people using the service lived with dementia or experienced other mental health support needs.

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 told us staff were caring, compassionate and provided safe care. Staff supported people to maintain their independence where possible and involved people in day to day decisions about their care and support. We received several compliments regarding the approach of staff. One family member advised, “We are really satisfied with this service…we're happy with them and feel [relative] is in good hands.”

Staff, people and families told us the service was well-managed. People indicated the management of the service was accessible, supportive and approachable. Comments from relatives included, “The office are always easy to get hold of and sort things out” and “If there has been anything to sort out, they have got on and done it. They will also check everything is going OK whilst I am on [the phone]. They are all very approachable.”

Staff provided consistently positive feedback about the responsiveness of the registered manager. The registered manager provided a positive role model for staff and had worked proactively with the nominated individual, office staff and head office to make improvements since our last inspection. We have made a recommendation in relation to governance record keeping.

People received person-centred care which was responsive to their needs. Staff could speak in detail about people they support, with knowledge about people's likes, dislikes and preferred routines. People's needs were assessed, and care plans provided a detailed and holistic picture of people's needs, wishes and preferred routines.

People were supported by staff who were suitably inducted, trained and supported. Staff deployment aimed to provide continuity of care, including enough travel time to deliver punctuality. One person told us, “I have a small team that come to see me. I get a weekly timetable and they are pretty much on time within it.”

We found safe care and treatment was provided. People were safeguarded from risks of abuse and other risks, including infection control risks in relation to COVID-19. Safe medicines administration practice was promoted. The registered manager took appropriate action in response to accidents, incidents and complaints to promote people’s safety.

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.

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 6 April 2022) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

At our last inspection we recommended the service ensure systems were operated to report incidents to CQC in accordance with requirements, and we also recommended the service review their approach, to ensure care is provided in a compassionate and supportive way. At this inspection we found improvements had been made.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

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 Good Oaks Home Care – Aylesbury on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Recommendations

At this inspection we have recommended the service review their approach to ensure the recording of management and governance systems is effective in evidencing the management of risks to the quality and safety of the service.

Follow up

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