Background to this inspection
Updated
11 November 2016
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check 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.
This inspection was undertaken by one inspector on 6, 7 and 14 October 2016. The provider was given 24 hours’ notice of our inspection to ensure we could gain access to the information we needed. We visited the office on 6 October 2016. We spoke with people and their relatives by telephone on 7 October 2016. We sent a request for information by email to 11 staff and received four responses by our review date of 14 October 2016.
Before the inspection, we looked at information that we had received about the service. This included information we received from the local authority and any notifications from the provider. Statutory notifications include information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. The provider also completed a Provider Information Return (PIR) immediately after the inspection visit. 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 the inspection process, we spoke with four people who received a service and two people’s relatives. We also spoke with the registered provider, who was leading the service while a suitable manager was being recruited, a director of the company and a member of the franchise organisation who was supporting the provider.
We looked at four people’s care records. We looked at records relating to three staff. We also looked at the provider’s arrangements for managing medicines, supporting staff, managing complaints and monitoring and assessing the quality of the services provided.
Updated
11 November 2016
This inspection took place with a visit to the provider's office on 6 October 2016. We also completed telephone interviews with four people using the service and two relatives on 7 October 2016. We reviewed information received from staff by email on 14 October 2016.
Heritage Healthcare Epping Forest is registered to provide personal care to people who live in their own home. There were 23 people receiving a service at the time of our inspection.
A registered manager was not 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 registered manager and manager had resigned recently and we were assisted by the Nominated Individual (refer to in the report as the provider), another director of the company and the franchise support manager. Systems were in place to monitor and assess the quality of the service people received, however improvement was needed to ensure they were fully completed and in a timely manner.
People and their relatives felt confident that people were safe and secure when receiving care in their own homes. Staff knew how to identify potential abuse and report concerns. People were supported to take their medicines safely. Potential risks to people’s health and safety were being identified and managed effectively to support people to have as much independence as possible while keeping them safe. Robust staff recruitment processes were in place. There were sufficient numbers of suitable staff available to meet people’s individual needs.
People received their care and support from a staff team that had a full understanding of people's care needs and the skills and knowledge to meet them. People's consent was obtained prior to support being given and staff were familiar with the Mental Capacity Act and how this may affect them in their role. Staff respected people’s right to make their own decisions. People were provided with appropriate levels of support to eat and drink and maintain their health and wellbeing.
People’s dignity and privacy was respected and people found the staff to be reliable, friendly and caring. People and their relatives where appropriate, were fully involved in the planning, delivery and reviews of the support provided. Care records overall included people’s preferences and individual needs so that staff had information on how to give people the support that they needed. People confirmed they received the care they required.
People knew the provider and the other director and found them to be approachable and available. People had the opportunity to say how they felt about the service provided.