The Care Quality Commission

Archived: Hales Group Limited - Thetford

Pal House, Market Place, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2AH (01842) 780000

Provided and run by:
Hales Group Limited

Important: This service is now registered at a different address - see new profile

All Inspections

9 July 2012

During a themed inspection looking at Domiciliary Care Services

We carried out a themed inspection looking at domiciliary care services. We asked people to tell us what it was like to receive services from this home care agency as part of a targeted inspection programme of domiciliary care agencies with particular regard to how people's dignity was upheld and how they can make choices about their care. The inspection team was led by a CQC inspector joined by an Expert by Experience who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service.

We used postal surveys, telephone interviews and home visits to people who use the service and to their main carers (a relative or friends) to gain views about the service.

For this inspection we used the information received from 5 returned postal surveys. We spoke over the phone with 19 people who use the service and to 8 family members.

We spoke over the telephone with 19 people who received a service from this agency. The majority spoke positively about their care workers and felt that nearly every staff member supported their care needs. They told us that their regular care workers spoke with them in a pleasant, calm and respectful way. However some new, less experienced care workers were not so respectful.

We visited four people in their own home as part of this review and spoke with them and two relatives about their experiences of the support they had received. We spoke with the manager and senior staff at the time of our visit, one care worker out in the community and two care workers who were visiting the office.

Most of the people we spoke with told us that their care was centred on their needs. They told us that care workers would use their preferred names. In most cases, people were happy with their care workers. However, a minority of people felt some less experienced staff only did a, "Fair job" and some, 'Did not cut the mustard.'

The four people we visited told us about their care plan They told us that they received calls from the office about their care to ensure they were receiving what was expected and that a senior care worker visited on occasions to review the care plan. One person told us "I can call the office at any time if I need my care changing."

Most of the people felt that staff were well trained and understood their needs. However, we did receive some comments suggesting that staff could do with some further training as some were not so good and had to be shown by one relative what to do.

People told us that they felt safe, and if they had any concerns they would call the office.

Out of 52 postal survey sent out by us only 5 (9.6%) had been returned.

12, 21 January 2011

During a routine inspection

We spoke with four people who used the service. They told us that their needs were met and that they were consulted about the care that they were provided with. They told us that they had received late visits, that some visits had been missed and that new staff did not always know the care and support they needed. People told us that the staff always treated them with respect and that their privacy was respected. They were complimentary about the staff that visited them but told us that staff always seemed to be in a hurry and under stress and did not always stay their time. They told us that, in their opinion, Hales Group (Thetford) Ltd could not cover sickness and needed more staff. They all told us that they felt safe using the service and knew how to complain but that no-one from the office had contacted or visited them to ask if they were happy with the service they received.

A relative with whom we spoke told us that, generally, the regular staff were good but that new staff did not seem to know what their relative needed help with. They told us that their relative had received many late and missed visits and that Hales Group (Thetford) Ltd "lacked consistency and at times did not seem to have enough staff to cover all calls."

Staff members with whom we spoke told us that they had received training and could find out the care and support needs of the people they visited by reading the plans of care or talking to other care staff. They told us that they regularly were given extra visits to make to people at short notice and that they were not always given enough information about the needs of the additional people before they visited. They told us that they were supported by the staff that worked in the office and the acting manager and that "things had improved". They told us that the standard of their work was not monitored and that they had not received supervision or had their competency reassessed.

The Operations Manager and acting Manager with whom we spoke told us that they were aware that there had recently been problems in providing a reliable and high quality service to all of those who used the service. They told us that they had chosen not to take on any more new people who wished to use the service until they had recruited new staff in all areas of Norfolk and Suffolk. They told us that they had already made changes to the recording systems and staffing structure and were in the process of interviewing prospective new staff as a result of their recruitment actions. They told us that a 'Field Manager' had been employed and that their role would be to carry out a review of the service received by each person using the service. They told us that they would also carry out spot checks and supervision with staff members to ensure people were receiving the care and support they needed and that the standard of work of each staff member was monitored and assessed.

A Quality Officer from Norfolk County Council Social Services with whom we spoke told us that, as a result of receiving complaints and concerns, they had just completed an investigation into issues of an unreliable service and poor work practice. They told us that they had found that Hales Group (Thetford) Ltd needed to improve the quality, consistency and reliability of the service they provided and that they were confident they could achieve this.