Comfort Call Gateshead improved from Requires Improvement to Good across all inspected key questions (Safe, Caring, Well-led), having fully remedied previous breaches of Regulation 17 relating to governance, staffing, incident investigation and culture. Minor recommendations remain regarding consistently acting on feedback from people, relatives and staff.
Concerns (2)
minor
Communication with families
: “A small number of people and relatives told us they felt communication could be improved with office staff. They fed back that they sometimes didn't receive calls back or information they requested.”
minorComplaints handling: “A small number still felt things raised weren't always acted upon. We have made a recommendation about this.”
Strengths
· New electronic rota and care plan system implemented, reducing late calls and improving staff consistency.
· Previous breaches of Regulation 17 (Good governance) fully remedied across staffing, incident investigation, culture and learning.
· Medicines safely administered and managed with regular audits; people confirmed medicines given on time.
· Staff demonstrated kind, compassionate and dignified care; people and relatives expressed high satisfaction.
· Provider worked in partnership with GPs, occupational therapists and local authority to achieve positive outcomes.
Quality-Statement breakdown (14)
safe: Staffing and recruitmentGood
safe: Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and managementGood
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
caring: Respecting and promoting people's privacy, dignity and independenceGood
caring: Ensuring people are well treated and supported; respecting equality and diversityGood
caring: Supporting people to express their views and be involved in making decisions about their careGood
well-led: Promoting a positive culture that is person-centred, open, inclusive and empoweringGood
well-led: Engaging and involving people using the service, the public and staffGood
well-led: Continuous learning and improving careGood
well-led: Duty of candour; managers and staff understanding quality, performance, risks and regulatory requirementsGood
Comfort Call Gateshead was rated Good across all five key questions at this announced inspection in September–October 2018, maintaining its 2016 rating. Minor issues around occasional missed or late calls and vague care plan goals were noted but appropriately managed.
Concerns (2)
moderateMissed or late visits: “some people told us they had experienced missed or late calls and they felt staff were "rushed", "tired" and rotas "could be better organised"”
minorCare planning: “We found some of these outcomes and goals were vague and were not specific about what the person wanted to achieve or how the service was going to support them to achieve it.”
Strengths
· Risk assessments were in place covering medicines, falls, environmental risks and nutrition.
· Effective recruitment and selection procedure with DBS checks, two written references and proof of identification.
· Staff received regular supervisions, annual appraisals, induction and up-to-date mandatory training.
· Person-centred care records written in consultation with people and their family members.
· Robust quality assurance processes including quarterly audits and monthly branch-level analysis.