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Gold Hill Care

Overall: Requires improvement read more about inspection ratings

The Hub, Church Lane, Chalfont St. Peter, Gerrards Cross, SL9 9RF (01753) 890844

Provided and run by:
Gold Hill Housing Association Limited

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 16 August 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. 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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience (EXE) is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The EXE made telephone calls to people and their relatives

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 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 18 July June 2019 and ended on 22 July 2019. We visited the office location on 18 and 19 July 2019 and reviewed information received from staff on 22 July 2019.

What we did before the inspection

Prior to the inspection we requested and received a Provider Information Return (PIR). We used the information the provider sent us in the PIR. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

We reviewed information we held about the service since the last inspection and what people had told us. We contacted local authority safeguarding teams. We used all of this information to plan our inspection

During the inspection

The EXE spoke with 10 people and three relatives on the phone to gain their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four members of staff including the, registered manager and three supervisors.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records in full and multiple medication records. We looked at four 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 sought feedback from care staff and received replies from seven staff members.

Overall inspection

Requires improvement

Updated 16 August 2019

Gold Hill Homecare is registered to provide personal care and support to people in their own homes. 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. At the time of the inspection the service supported 29 people across south Buckinghamshire.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People told us they were supported by staff who were kind, caring and compassionate. Comments from people included, “I can’t tell you how brilliant they are,” “They’re wonderful” and “They’re never anything but professional.”

People were not always protected from unsafe medicine management. The service did not fully comply with national guidelines regarding records relating to medicines. Some people were supported with the administration of their prescribed medicines without this being identified as required and no medicine administration record being in place.

People were supported by staff who had received initial and ongoing training to ensure they had the right skills and attributes to work with them.

People received effective care. Staff worked with external health and social care professionals to ensure people’s needs were met. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported support this practice.

People were encouraged to be independent and supported to engage in community activities they enjoyed.

Staff were happy in their role and felt fully supported by the registered manager. Staff told us there was good team work and morale was high. We found all staff demonstrated a commitment to provide a high-quality service and improve the quality of life experienced by people they supported.

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 (published 28 January 2017)

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to medicine management and administration 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.