Archived: Goldfinch Care Agency

Updated 12 January 2016

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.

The inspection team consisted of an inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. We spoke to two people who used the service and four relatives of other people who used the service.

We looked at the care plans of three of the people who used the service at the time of our inspection. After the inspection we spoke with six care workers employed by the service. We looked at three staff recruitment files to see how the provider recruited and appointed staff. We also looked at the records the registered manager provided concerning their procedures for monitoring the quality of the service and evidence of staff training.

Before the inspection we reviewed notifications that we had received from the provider. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law.

Updated 12 January 2016

We carried out the inspection on 19 November 2015. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in available. This was the first inspection of the service since it registered in 2013.

The service is a home care agency that provides live-in carers to people. The carers provide personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection 10 people used the service.

The service had a registered manager. 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.’

People told us that they felt safe in their own homes?. Risks were assessed and managed to protect them from harm. Staff understood what to do in an emergency.

Staff had received training to meet the needs of the people who used the service. People received their medicines as required and medicines were managed and administered safely.

Staff respected people’s homes. People’s independence was promoted and choice making encouraged. People remained part of the wider community if they wished to and links with people important to them were maintained.

Some people had the capacity to make decisions about their care and the support they received. These people were involved and their opinions sought and respected. Where people required support to make decisions, the service did not follow the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). The registered manager and staff team were unclear of their role in ensuring best interest decisions were made for people.

The registered manager had assessed the care needs of people using the service. Staff had a clear understanding of their role and how to support people who used the service as individuals. Where people had more complex needs these were being met and support was tailored to people’s changing needs.

Staff knew people well and treated them with kindness and compassion. People received a consistent level of support. Where additional staff were required to support when regular staff members were not able to these staff were also well known to people.

People were supported to maintain their health and wellbeing. Systems were in place to monitor the health and wellbeing of people who used the service. People’s health needs were met and when necessary, outside health professionals were contacted for support.

Staff felt supported by the registered manager.  The registered manager supervised staff and regularly checked their competency to carry out their role.  People who used the service felt they could talk to the registered manager and had confidence that they would address issues if required.  Family members found the registered manager to be approachable.