Goodluck Care Limited - Hounslow

About the service

Goodluck Care Limited – Hounslow is a domiciliary care service providing personal care for people. The service provides support to older people, and support with personal care for people living in a supported living setting. At the time of our inspection there were 28 people using the service and 4 people in a supported living setting.

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

Right Support:

People were supported by staff who followed systems and processes to prescribe, administer, record and store medicines safely. The service’s infection prevention and control policy was up to date. The service supported visits for people living in the home in line with current guidance.

Right Care:

People were kept safe from avoidable harm because staff knew them well and understood how to protect them from abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. People lived safely and free from unwarranted restrictions because the service assessed, monitored and managed safety well.

Right Culture:

The numbers and skills of staff matched the needs of people using the service. Staff recruitment and induction training processes promoted safety, including those for agency staff. Staff knew how to take into account people’s individual needs, wishes and goals. The service managed incidents affecting people’s safety well. Staff recognised incidents and reported them appropriately, and managers investigated incidents and shared lessons learned. Staff felt respected, supported and valued by senior staff which promoted a positive and improvement-driven culture. Staff gave honest information and suitable support, and applied duty of candour where appropriate. The registered manager had the skills, knowledge and experience to perform their role with a clear understanding of people’s needs and oversight of the services they managed.

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 24 October 2018).

Why we inspected

We inspected due to the length of time since the last inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. At the time of our inspection there were 39 people using the service, most of whom were older adults with a range of care needs, including those related to mental health and dementia, and two people with a learning disability.

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 last inspection on 27 and 28 July 2017, we rated the service requires improvement as we found breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 in relation to the safe care and treatment of people using the service and good governance. The provider sent us an action plan on 16 October 2017 telling us they would be compliant by 15 December 2017. At this inspection, we found that improvements had been made and the provider was meeting the regulations.

There were regular audits of medicines and appropriate action was taken when issues were identified. However, staff did not have their competencies to manage medicines, checked and there were some recording errors.

We have made a recommendation in relation to the management of medicines.

The risks to people's wellbeing and safety had been assessed, and there was information on people’s records about how to mitigate these risks.

People's needs were assessed prior to receiving a service and care plans were developed from the assessments. Care plans contained the necessary information for staff to know how to support people.

The service employed enough staff to meet people's needs safely and had contingency plans in place in the event of staff’s absence. Recruitment checks were in place to obtain information about new staff before they supported people unsupervised.

There were procedures for safeguarding adults and staff were aware of these. Staff knew how to respond to medical emergencies or significant changes in a person's wellbeing.

The provider had systems in place to manage incidents and accidents and took appropriate action to minimise the risk of reoccurrence.

People were protected from the risk of infection and care workers were provided with appropriate equipment such as gloves and aprons when they provided support.

The registered manager was aware of their responsibilities in line with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and staff had received training on this. People had consented to their care and support and had their mental capacity assessed prior to receiving a service from the agency.

People's health and nutritional needs had been assessed, recorded and were monitored to ensure these were met.

People were supported at the end of their life and staff received training in end of life care.

Care staff received an induction and appropriate support before delivering care and support to people. People were supported by staff who were adequately trained and supervised.

Feedback about the service from people and their relatives was positive. People said they had regular staff visiting which enabled them to build a rapport and get to know them.

People we spoke with and their relatives said that they were happy with the level of care they were receiving from the service.

There were systems in place to monitor and assess the quality and effectiveness of the service, and the provider ensured that areas for improvement were identified and addressed.

There was a complaints procedure in place which the provider followed. People felt confident that if they raised a complaint, they would be listened to and their concerns addressed.

People, staff and relatives told us that the registered manager and senior team were approachable and supportive. There was a clear management structure, and they encouraged an open and transparent culture within the service. People and staff were supported to raise concerns and make suggestions about where improvements could be made.

Goodluck Care Limited – Hounslow is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care for 13 mainly older people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection people’s care was funded by two local authorities.

This was the first inspection of the service since it registered with the Care Quality Commission in June 2016.

At the time of the inspection a registered manager was 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.

Risk assessments were not in place to ensure specific issues related to each person were identified and guidance provided as to how to reduce any possible associated risks.

The provider had processes in place to monitor the quality of the care provided but the audits in relation to care plans and risk assessments did not provide appropriate information to identify issues.

The provider had a policy in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 but was not always working within the principles of the Act.

The provider had systems in place to protect people using the service. All care workers had completed safeguarding adults training.

The provider had a process in place for the administration of medicines. People received their prescribed medicines in a safe manner.

Care workers had received the necessary training and supervision they required to deliver care safely and to an appropriate standard.

Relatives of people using the service we spoke with felt the care workers were caring and treated their family member with dignity and respect while providing care. Care plans identified the person’s cultural and religious needs.

Detailed assessments of need were carried out which were used to develop the person’s care plan. The care plans identified how people wished their care to be provided.

The provider had a complaints process in place and people knew what to do if they wished to raise any concerns.

Relatives of people using the service and care workers felt the service was well-led and effective. Care workers felt supported by their managers.

We found breaches of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. These breaches relate to the safe care and treatment of people using the service (Regulation 12) and good governance (Regulation 17). You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.