Marygold Care UK Ltd

Updated 30 October 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of one inspector and two Experts 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.

Service and service type

Marygold Care UK Ltd is a 'domiciliary care service' where people receive care and support in their own homes. Therefore, the CQC only regulates the care provided to people and not the premises they live in. The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. Inspection activity started on 31July 2019 and ended on 8 August 2019. We visited the office location on 31 July 2019.

What we did before the inspection

Prior to the inspection we reviewed information and evidence we already held about this service, which had been collected via our ongoing monitoring of care services. This included notifications sent to us by the service. Notifications are changes, events or incidents that the provider is legally obliged to send to us without delay. We also viewed the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

During the inspection

We spoke mostly with people’s relatives to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We spoke with thirteen relatives and one person who used the service. We spoke with the registered manager and care workers. We reviewed seven care records of people using the service, seven personnel files of care workers, audits and other records about the management of the service.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We received information relating to the provider’s governance systems and some care records. This information was used as part of our inspection.

Updated 30 October 2019

About the service

Marygold Care UK Ltd is a domiciliary care service which provides personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection there were 51 people using the service. Everyone using the service lived within the London Boroughs of Harrow and Hillingdon and had their service commissioned by the local authorities.

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

People’s experience of the service was positive. A relative of one person using the service told us, “We are very happy with the service. My relative feels safe. Staff have always turned up and they stay as long as they should.” This view of the service was repeated by everyone we spoke with.

People who used the service were protected from the risk of harm and abuse. Care workers knew how to identify and report concerns. Where safeguarding concerns had been identified, the registered manager had taken appropriate action.

There were effective systems and processes in place to minimise risks to people. The assessments provided information about how to support the people to ensure risks were reduced.

There were enough care workers deployed to keep people safe. They had been recruited safely. Pre-employment checks had been carried out.

Feedback indicated that there were no punctuality issues. However, we found there were limits to the service’s current monitoring system. The registered manager told us they would address this.

There were systems in place to ensure proper and safe use of medicines. People’s relatives told us people received their medicines on time.

People were protected from the risks associated with poor infection control because the service had processes in place to reduce the risk of infection and cross contamination.

There was a process in place to report, monitor and learn from accidents and incidents. Accidents were documented timely in line with the service’s policy and guidance.

There was an effective training system in place. Care workers demonstrated good knowledge and skills necessary for their role.

People’s health needs were met. The service worked with a range of professionals including GP, palliative care team and speech and language specialists.

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.

People’s privacy was respected. Care plans described how people should be supported so that their privacy and dignity were upheld.

People received person centred care. Their assessments showed they had been involved in the assessment process. Care workers were knowledgeable about people’s needs. They could describe to us how people liked to be supported.

There was a complaints procedure in place, which people’s relatives were aware of. Quality assurance processes such as audits, spot checks, accidents and incidents, were used to drive improvements.

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 20 April 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.