Archived: Galax Care

Updated 9 May 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.

We undertook an announced focused inspection at Galax Care on 12 April 2017. The provider was given short notice because the location provides domiciliary care services. We wanted to make sure the registered manager would be available to support our inspection, or someone who could act on their behalf. This inspection was carried out to check that improvements to meet legal requirements planned by the provider after our 10 February 2016 inspection had been made. We inspected the service against one of the five questions we ask about services: Is the service Responsive? This is because the service was previously not meeting some legal requirements. This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Before the inspection we reviewed all the information we held about the service, we looked at previous inspection reports and any notifications received by the Care Quality Commission. A notification is information about important events, which the provider is required to tell us about by law. We reviewed the provider's action plan, which set out the action they would take to meet legal requirements.

We spoke with the registered manager and care co-ordinator. We reviewed a range of records which included four people’s care plans and the associated risk assessments and guidance. We viewed plans to ensure people had access to a range of activities. We looked at information about how complaints could be raised.

Updated 9 May 2017

Galax Care is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own home. The services provided included support with personal care such as assistance with bathing and dressing. It also included support with eating and drinking and administering medicines. They also provided a supported living service assisting people with a learning disability to live their lives as independently as possible. Support offered varied from supporting people with meal preparation, shopping, attending activities and managing finances. The provider explained that support hours provided varied depending on the person’s needs. At the time of our inspection 14 people were using the service.

We previously carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 10 February 2016. A breach of legal requirements was found. The service was rated Good overall and Requires Improvement in the ‘Responsive’ domain. After the comprehensive inspection, the provider wrote to us to say what actions they would take to meet legal requirements in relation to the breach of Regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act Regulated Activities Regulations 2014, Good Governance.

We undertook this focused inspection to check that they had followed their plan and to confirm that they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Galax Care on our website at www.cqc.org.uk. We found on this inspection the provider had taken all the steps to make the necessary improvements.

There was a registered manager in post who was present during our inspection. 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.

The provider had implemented an electronic care planning system since our last inspection. This gave staff access to electronic information they needed to meet people’s needs, including receiving regular up to date information. Care plans were personalised and detailed daily routines specific to each person. Care plans contained information about the person’s preferences, likes, dislikes and what was important to them.

People were involved in planning their care and support. People met with the care coordinator prior to their care package commencing with the agency. At this meeting people had the opportunity to discuss what care and support they wished to receive and how they wished to receive it.

Where required people were supported to maintain their independence and community involvement. This included supporting people to follow their interests and take part in social activities.

The service had a complaints procedure in place setting out how complaints could be made and how they would be handled. The registered manager investigated complaints and concerns in a timely manner.