We carried out a review of the data available to us about GN Wellsprings Care Services Ltd on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about GN Wellsprings Care Services Ltd, you can give feedback on this service.
People’s experience of using this service:
•Relatives said family members always received visits from consistent staff, at the times arranged.
•Staff was knowledgeable about the risks associated with people's care, but risk management plans had not always been fully completed for those identified risks.
• Staff were recruited safely, and there were enough staff to provide the care and support people needed.
• Safe procedures to manage people's medicines and to prevent the spread of infection were understood and followed by staff.
•People and their relatives made decisions about their care and were supported by staff who understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
•Staff were caring and respected people's right to privacy and dignity.
•Care plans were personalised, but needed more detail to support the person centred care relatives told us people received.
•Staff knew how to keep people protected from poor practice or abuse.
•Staff were keyworkers for people which helped them get to know people well, especially their individual routines and preferences.
•Staff encouraged people to remain as independent as possible by supporting people to do things they could do for themselves.
•The provider’s governance systems were operated and managed effectively to ensure good care outcomes for people that continued to meet their needs.
•The provider had begun to utilise electronic call monitoring and call scheduling to ensure care calls continued to be completed on time. A recommendation for the registered manager was to consider steps to safeguard people’s important information from being accessed unlawfully.
We found the service met the characteristics of a “Good” rating in five areas.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection: Good. The last report for GN Wellsprings was published on (19 October 2016).
Why we inspected: This was a planned and announced inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The previous ‘good’ service provided to people had remained consistent.
Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.
There was a registered manager in post. 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 time of our inspection, 14 people were receiving the service.
People were safe because staff understood their responsibilities to protect people from the risks of harm and knew the action they should take if they had any concerns that the person might be at risk. The registered manager checked that staff were suitable to deliver personal care to people in their own homes during the recruitment process.
Only experienced staff, who had already attended training in health and social care, were recruited. New staff’s training was focused on getting to know people and learning about their individual needs and preferences for care and support. The registered manager ensured staff maintained their skills by scheduling refresher training and specialist training that matched people’s needs.
People’s care plans included risk assessments for their health and wellbeing and explained the actions staff should take to minimise the identified risks. Staff learned about people’s needs and abilities by shadowing experienced staff when they started working for the service and by reading the care plans.
The registered manager assessed risks in the people’s homes and advised staff of the actions they should take to minimise the risks. The medicines policy included training staff to administer medicines safely, and checking that people were supported to take their medicines as prescribed by their GP.
The manager understood their responsibility to comply with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS. Staff understood they could only care for and support people if they consented to care.
People were supported to obtain advice from healthcare professionals when their health needs changed and staff supported people to follow the health professionals’ advice.
People’s care plans included their preferences, likes and dislikes to make sure all the staff understood how best to support them. Staff supported the same people regularly so they knew them well and established on-going relationships with the person and their families.
People and relatives told us all the staff were kind and respected their privacy, dignity and independence. They said the care staff felt more like friends or a second family, than staff.
The complaints policy was explained in the service user guide, but no complaints had been made. People were encouraged to share their opinions about the quality of the service through surveys and regular telephone conversations with the management team.
The registered manager and staff shared common values about the aims and objectives of the service. Care was focussed on supporting people, according to their individual needs, abilities and preferences.
The registered manager and all the staff told us they loved their job and the team worked well together. People, relatives and staff said the service worked well because they were good at communicating.