Honor Care Limited

Updated 3 April 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:

This inspection was conducted by one adult social care inspector.

Service and service type:

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. Not everyone using this service receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

The registered provider was an individual who managed the service on a day to day basis. Registered providers 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.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is a small service and we needed to be sure someone would be available at the office to speak with.

Inspection site visit activity started on 12 February 2019 and ended on 18 February 2019 following speaking with staff, people who use service and some relatives. We visited the office location on 12 February to see the registered manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did:

Before our inspection we completed our planning tool and reviewed the information we held on the service. This included notifications we had received from the provider, about incidents that affect the health, safety and welfare of people supported by the service and previous inspection reports.

We also checked to see if any information concerning the care and welfare of people supported by the service had been received. We contacted the commissioning departments who used Honor Care Services. This helped us to gain a balanced overview of what people experienced using the service.

As part of the inspection we used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the visit we spoke with both the registered provider and the care coordinator. As part of the inspection we spoke to people who used the service. This helped us understand the experiences of the person.

Following the site visit we spoke with a range of people about Honor Care Services They included three people who used the service, the care coordinator, two relatives and three care staff.

Updated 3 April 2019

About the service: Honor Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency which was providing support to 15 people in their own homes on the day of our inspection.

People’s experience of using this service: People and relatives that used the service told us they were satisfied with the care provided. All said they had good relationships with the management and staff and that the service provided was consistent and they had never been let down.

Staff spoke positvily about their job role, it was evident staff morale was good. One relative told us, “The staff that visit are always cheerful and nothing is too much trouble”.

If people need assistance with their medication, this was provided by staff who had been trainined. The registered manager and care coordinator carried out spot checks to observe staff and monitor medicines procedures were followed.

Staff files we looked at evidenced the registered manager used safe recruitment procedures. All files contained the correct documentation and the appropriate checks had been carried out prior to an offer of employment being made. Once employment began all staff received a thoroughinduction. On going training was provided that ensured all staff were fully aware of best practice.

Risk assessments had been developed to minimise the potential risk of harm to people during the delivery of their care. These had been kept under review and were relevant to the care provided.

Care plans demonstrated that care was provided with a person centred approach. Information focused on what the person could do for themselves and were they needed support. The aim of the service is to support people to live at home and to remain as independent as their abilities allow. The policies and procedures supported this and were written in a way that promoted the people who received the service had maximum choice and control of their lives.

Good governance systems and processes were in place to ensure the service improved.

There was a complaints procedure which was made available to people and their family when they commenced using the service. People we spoke with told us they were happy with the support they received.

More information is in the full report

Rating at last inspection:

Good (report published 24 March 2016).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The service remained rated good overall.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme or if any issues or concerns are identified.