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Archived: Herriot Hospice Homecare

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

18 Omega Business Village, Thurston Road, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, DL6 2NJ (01609) 777413

Provided and run by:
Herriot Hospice Homecare

Important: The provider of this service changed. See old profile

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 1 November 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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 took place on 30 August 2017 and was announced. The provider was given short notice of the inspection because the service provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure the manager would be available at the office.

One adult social care inspector and an ‘end of life’ specialist nurse carried out the inspection. During the inspection we visited the provider’s office and also met with one person and their family in their own home after obtaining their consent to this. The other five people who used the service and their families were contacted about the inspection, but did not wish to speak with us.

Prior to our inspection we looked at the information we held about the service, which included notifications sent to us since the last inspection. Notifications are when providers send us information about certain changes, events or incidents that occur within the service. We contacted the local authority, the district nurses and MacMillan nurses prior to our visit. They had no concerns about the service.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During our inspection we spoke with the chief executive, the registered manager, two office staff and three care staff. We looked at three people’s care records, including their initial assessments, care plans and risk assessments. We looked at medication administration records (MARs) where staff were responsible for administering medicines. We also looked at a selection of documentation pertaining to the management and running of the service. This included quality assurance information, audits, recruitment information for three members of staff, staff training records, policies and procedures, complaints and staff rotas.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 1 November 2017

This announced inspection took place on 30 August 2017.

The service was registered in 2013, it had an unrated inspection in 2014 and has been dormant (not in use) until recently. This will be the first rated inspection for the service.

Herriot Hospice Homecare is a domiciliary care service providing support and care for people in their own homes, who are on an end of life pathway. The service covers the local area of Hambleton and Richmondshire. Six people used the service at the time of our inspection.

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.

The service worked under contract from the local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and in partnership with a local hospice, MacMillan nurses and Marie Curie nurses as well as the district nurses as part of a community end of life team. There was some evidence of deficiencies in the management and oversight of risk across organisational boundaries within the partnership. The manager had recognised this and was actively working to mitigate any impact on people who used the service.

People told us they felt safe and well supported by the care staff. The provider followed robust recruitment checks, to employ suitable care workers, and there continued to be sufficient care staff employed to ensure home visits were carried out in a timely way. People’s medicines were managed safely.

Care staff received appropriate training to give them the knowledge and skills they required to carry out their roles. They received regular supervision to fulfil their roles effectively and the manager planned to have annual appraisals completed when due.

People were supported to have choice and control of their lives and the care staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Where relevant, care staff helped people with their eating and drinking needs.

Care staff knew about people’s individual care needs. People who spoke with us gave us positive feedback about the care staff and described them as, “Excellent, caring and knowledgeable.” We were told the care staff treated people who used the service with compassion, dignity and respect.

People and staff told us that the service was well managed and organised. The manager assessed and monitored the quality of care provided to people. People and care staff were asked for their views and their suggestions were used to continuously improve the service.

Further information is in the detailed findings below