Hebe Healthcare Cape Hill

Hebe Healthcare Cape Hill is a supported living service providing personal care to five people at the time of the inspection. Hebe Healthcare Cape Hill provides care to people who have individual flats in one building. Not everyone who used the service received 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 received safe care. People were supported by staff who understood the appropriate action to take should they be concerned about their safety. The risks associated with people’s care had been identified and plans put in place to minimise these. Staff had been recruited safely and action was taken during the inspection to ensure appropriate staffing levels were in place. People were supported to take their medicines safely.

People did not always receive effective care. 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. However, the policies and systems in the service did not always support this practice and we found improvements were needed in the formalising on best interest meetings. People were supported to receive appropriate healthcare in line with their specific needs although the information available for staff on healthcare conditions needed further detail. Staff had received training in line with people’s needs. People were supported to eat and drink meals of their choosing.

People received support that was caring, compassionate and kind. People were involved in all aspects of their care. People had their dignity and privacy respected and their independence promoted.

People received care that was responsive to their needs. People had been involved in developing their care plans and reviewing them as and when their needs changed. Where the service was responsible people were supported to follow their interests and hobbies. People were able to raise concerns and complaints and be assured these would be investigated.

The service was not consistently well-led. Whilst systems were in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service the providers systems needed to become more robust to enable all aspects of the service to be monitored. People and staff were able to feedback their views of the service and had opportunities to suggest improvements. The leadership in the service had recently changed and the current management team acted openly and responsively during the inspection ensuring they took immediate action to remedy any areas of improvement we identified.

Rating at last inspection-

The last rating for this service was Good (published 28 October 2016).

Why we inspected-

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

The service is registered to provide personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service was providing support and personal care to 10 people who were living in their own homes within a ‘supported living’ facility in the community. Supported living enables people who need personal or social support to live in their own home supported by care staff instead of living in a care home or with family. The levels of support people received from the service varied, according to their assessed needs and levels of independence.

There was a registered manager. 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.

People were supported by staff who had received training in how to recognise signs of abuse. Staff were aware of their responsibilities with regard to reporting any concerns and maintaining people’s safety. Risks to people were assessed and updated on a regular basis and communication systems were in place to ensure staff were in receipt of the most up to date information regarding people’s needs.

For those people who were supported to take their medication, systems were in place to ensure this was done safely. Systems were in place to ensure people were supported by sufficient numbers of staff who had been recruited safely.

Staff felt well supported in their role and benefitted from an induction that equipped them for their role. Staff received regular training and specific training was sourced to ensure staff were equipped to meet people’s particular health care needs.

Staff routinely obtained people’s consent prior to offering support and demonstrated a good working knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

People were supported by staff who were aware of their healthcare needs. The registered manager and project manager went to great lengths to ensure people received the healthcare support they needed.

People had warm and caring relationships with the staff who supported them and described them as kind and caring. People were treated with dignity and respect, were involved in the planning of their care and were supported to maintain their independence.

People’s care needs were regularly assessed and reviewed. People were supported and encouraged to maintain their interests by staff who knew them well. People felt listened to and their views were regularly sought on the quality of the care they received.

There was a system in place for investigation and recording complaints. People were confident that if they did raise concerns, they would be dealt with appropriately.

People were complimentary about the registered manager and considered the service to be well led. Staff felt supported in their role and listened to. The registered manager had created a number of links with other professionals in order to benefit service delivery.

Audits were in place to assess the quality of the care and support people received.