GMS Carers

Updated 25 January 2019

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 14 January 2018. The registered provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service for adults who are often out during the day and we needed to be sure that someone would be in.

The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector.

Prior to the inspection, we gathered information from a number of sources. We reviewed the information we held about the service, which included correspondence we had received and any notifications submitted to us by the service. A notification should be sent to CQC every time a significant incident has taken place. We reviewed the Provider Information Return (PIR), which the registered provider completed before the inspection. The PIR is a form that asks the registered provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We contacted Sheffield local authority and Healthwatch (Sheffield) to obtain their views of the service. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. Neither had received any information of concern regarding the service.

During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager, the business manager and two care workers. We spoke with the four people receiving support, two people at their shared home and two people at their day service. We also spoke with one person’s personal assistant and one social care professional to obtain their views. We looked at two people’s care plans, two staff personnel files and other information relating to the running of the service.

Updated 25 January 2019

GMS Carers is a domiciliary care service registered to provide personal care to people with learning disabilities. The service supports four people living together in a house which they rent under a shared tenancy agreement.

There was a registered manager at the service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

At the last inspection, the service was rated Good. At this inspection, we found the evidence continued to support the rating of Good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

Why the service is rated Good.

People supported by GMS Carers told us they felt safe and staff provided them with the support they needed.

Staff were aware of their responsibilities in keeping people safe.

Policies and procedures for the safe management of medicines were in place.

There were robust recruitment procedures in operation to promote people’s safety.

Staff were provided with relevant training and supervision so they had the skills they needed to undertake their role.

People receiving support said staff were nice and kind.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People’s care plans contained relevant person-centred detail to inform staff. The support plans had been reviewed to ensure they were up to date.

People said they could talk to the staff and registered manager if they had any worries.

There were quality assurance and audit processes in place to make sure the service was running well.

The service had a full range of policies and procedures available to staff.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.