Glow Care Ltd

Updated 24 March 2022

The inspection

We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.

Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people using the service and staff.

Inspection team

The performance review and assessment was completed by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses.

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

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 9 February 2022 and ended on 16 February 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information we had received about the service since registration. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. 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

This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location’s office. We used technology such as video calls and telephone calls to enable us to engage with people using the service and staff. We used electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation.

During this time, we spoke with the general manager and the registered manager who was also the nominated individual for the service. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We also spoke with the two people who received support from the agency and three care staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included two people's care records, three staff recruitment records, policies and procedures and quality monitoring records the managers used, or planned to use, to assure themselves people received a safe service.

Updated 24 March 2022

About the service

Glow Care is a domiciliary care agency which is registered to provide personal care and support to people in their own homes. The service is registered to provide support to younger adults, older people, people living with dementia, people with mental health support needs, people with learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder, people with a sensory impairment and people with a physical disability. More recently the service added supported living to the range of services they could provide. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting two people, both of which, were in receipt of personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

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

People's needs were assessed before they started using the service, but assessment records were not clearly recorded to show people’s needs had been identified for these to be incorporated into care plans. Assessments needed to be further developed to ensure protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 were fully considered. Information contained within people's care records was not specific enough to support staff in managing people’s care. This included risks associated with people’s care. Although people managed their own medicines, sometimes staff were offering support with cream applications without this being part of an agreed plan of care to ensure this was managed safely. The provider acknowledged these areas needed development.

People felt safe with the care staff that supported them, but safeguarding procedures needed to be reviewed to ensure they were clear for staff to follow to protect people from the risk of harm. Management staff understood their responsibilities to keep people safe. Staff knew people well, but risk management plans did not always contain the information staff needed to help ensure a consistent and safe approach in providing care.

Staff had completed some training but staff competency following training was not always checked to confirm their learning had been effective. Staff had completed training on infection, prevention and control, but it was not evident policies and procedures had been updated with the latest government guidance to ensure staff worked safely. However, people told us staff followed safe infection and prevention and control practice in their homes. Recruitment systems were not sufficiently robust as the required records were not available to confirm staff were safe to work with people. However, staff and the registered manager told us recruitment checks had been made when the staff were employed.

The providers systems to monitor the quality and safety of the service required improvement. Issues that we found during this inspection had not been identified and addressed by the provider's own systems. That demonstrated governance systems were not sufficient to drive improvement of the service. The management team welcomed the inspection and were open and honest about the challenges they had faced.

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. People told us they were happy with the care they received and stated their care calls were made at the times they expected and for the length of time agreed. They felt their needs were met and staff were approachable. People felt at ease to discuss any concern or issues they had with staff if needed.

People told us staff were caring and knew them well. People’s privacy and dignity was respected, and staff supported people to be as independent as possible. Staff felt supported, enjoyed their jobs, and understood what the management team expected of them.

Rating at last Inspection

This service was registered with us on 19 May 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection of this newly registered service.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection.

We will continue to monitor the service and take further action if needed. We have identified one breach of the regulations in relation to good governance and have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, effective, responsive and well-led sections of this full report. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan for the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

This was an ‘inspection using remote technology’. This means we did not visit the office location and instead used technology such as electronic file sharing to gather information, and video and phone calls to engage with people using the service as part of this performance review and assessment.