Background to this inspection
Updated
12 January 2022
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 Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
This inspection was carried out by two inspectors.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
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 48 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure the registered manager would be available.
The inspection activity started 25 November 2021 and ended on 26 November. We visited the office on 26 November 2021.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service and sought feedback from the local authority. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
During the inspection
We spoke with seven people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the are provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the provider, registered manager, care coordinator and care workers.
We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We spoke with two professionals who regularly visit the service.
Updated
12 January 2022
About the service
A&R Guardian Services Limited is a domiciliary care agency, providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection 41 people were using the service.
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’s safety was promoted. Potential risks to people's safety were assessed, managed and reviewed regularly. Care plans provided clear guidance for staff to follow to ensure people received personalised care and support that met their needs. Staff accessed care plans via the handheld devices.
The provider continued to follow safe staff recruitment procedures. Staff were trained for their roles and understood the actions needed to minimise the risk of avoidable harm and abuse.
People were supported by a small team of regular reliable staff, which provided continuity of care.
People's medicines were safely managed. Staff were trained and systems were in place to control and prevent the spread of infection.
People and relatives all agreed that the registered manager was responsive, approachable and were confident any concerns raised would be addressed.
The service remained well managed. The registered manager was aware of their responsibilities in meeting their legal obligations. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and actions were taken to improve the service when required. People’s views about the service were sought individually and through satisfaction surveys. Systems were in place to ensure staff were trained and supported in their role. Staff told us the registered manager was approachable and acted on feedback.
The registered manager had worked in partnership with health care professionals and other agencies to promote good outcomes for people.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (report published 15 January 2020).
Why we inspected
We received concerns about the quality of care, staffing and the management of the service. We
undertook a focused inspection to examine those risk and reviewed the key questions of Safe and Well-led only.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. The overall rating for the service has remained ‘Good’. This is based on the findings at this inspection. Please see the Safe and Well-Led sections of this full report.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for A&R Guardian Services Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.