Heart of Gold Homecare Ltd

At the time of the inspection, the location did not predominantly provide care or support for people with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group and the provider was supporting some people from this population group.

About the service

Heart of Gold Homecare is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to 23 people at the time of the inspection. The service supported older and younger adults and children.

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

Right Support: People generally received support in line with their assessed needs. Assessments of people’s needs provided staff with guidance; however, some care plans would benefit from additional detail to improve the level of person centred information for staff to follow. People's choices were promoted by staff who had a good understanding of how to promote people’s independence. Support was in place to enable people to access the community. Staff supported people to achieve their goals, take part in chosen activities and pursue interests.

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.

Right Care: People's care was not always provided safely. Medicines were not always managed safely; people’s medication administration records (MAR’s) were not always completed correctly; timings of calls did not always allow for sufficient time between the administration of people’s medication and paperwork relating to the application of creams and the use of thickening agents had not always been completed. Risk assessments associated with the provision of people's care generally provided staff with guidance on how to support people safely; however, additional detail was needed to improve person centred information and potential harm levels recorded within risk assessments needed review. People and relatives were happy with care and support provided by staff who had an understanding of how to protect people's privacy and promote their independence.

Right Culture: The providers governance systems required further development; audits were regularly completed; however, they generally only checked the recording of information rather than also focusing on practice and people’s experience of care. Audits did not always reflect our findings at this inspection and had not always informed improvement. Staff did not always receive training in key areas before commencing employment. The provider evidenced oversight of staff’s compliance with training, but they had not always ensured courses were completed in a timely manner. The providers recruitment systems required further development; staff recruitment records were incomplete, when the provider had not been able to obtain previous employment references, they had not completed risk assessments to ensure the suitability of candidates to work with vulnerable adults and children. However, we did not evidence any impact and people were happy with the support they received. The provider demonstrated values to place people’s needs and rights at the heart of everything they did and we felt issues identified related to the governance of the service

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

This service was registered with us on 24 April 2022 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, effective and well-led sections of this full report.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment and good governance 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 from 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 continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.