Honey Crown Bee Limited

Honey Crown Bee Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing the regulated activity of personal care. The service provides support to older people and people with physical disabilities and sensory impairments. At the time of our inspection there were 3 people using the service who received support with personal care. 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

Pre-care assessments of people's needs were carried out before they started using the service to see if the provider could meet these needs. However, this was not done using standardised documentation and we have made a recommendation about this.

Systems were in place to help safeguard people from abuse. Risk assessments were in place which set out the risks people faced and included information about how to mitigate those risks. There were enough staff to meet people's needs and robust staff recruitment practices were in place. Steps had been taken to help prevent the spread of infections. Systems were in place for investigating accidents and incidents.

Staff received training and supervision to support them in their role. People were able to make choices about what they ate and drank. The service sought to promote healthy lifestyles for people and worked with other agencies to ensure people’s healthcare needs were met.

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; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People told us that staff were kind and caring and treated them well. People were supported to have control and choice over their daily lives. People's privacy was respected, and staff understood the importance of maintaining confidentiality.

Care plans were in place which set out how to meet the individual needs of people. People and relatives were involved in developing these plans, which meant they were able to reflect people's needs and preferences. People's communication needs were met. People told us they had confidence that any complaints raised would be addressed.

Quality assurance and monitoring systems were in place to help drive improvements at the service. There was an open and positive culture at the service, which meant people and staff could express their views. The provider worked with other agencies to develop best practice and share knowledge.

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

Rating at last inspection and

The last rating for this service was good (published 17 July 2018).

Why we inspected

We had not inspected this service for over 5 years and we needed to check the care was still of a good standard.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to older adults and adults with physical disabilities. It specialises in providing support to people who require palliative care, although not exclusively so. At the time of our inspection four people were using the service.

The service had a registered manager in place. 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.

We have made one recommendation in this report. This was because staff did not receive formal one to one supervision from a senior staff member.

Appropriate safeguarding procedures were in place and people told us they felt safe using the service. Risk assessments provided information about how to support people in a safe manner. There were enough staff working at the service to meet people's needs and robust staff recruitment procedures were in place. Staff had a good understanding about infection control issues and used protective clothing to help prevent the spread of infection. Although the service did not support anyone with medicines at the time of our inspection, systems were in place to do this in a safe manner if required.

The service carried out an assessment of people’s needs prior to the provision of care. This enabled the service to determine of it was a suitable care provider for each individual. Staff undertook an induction training programme on commencing work at the service and had access to regular on-going training to help them develop relevant skills and knowledge. Where people required support with meal preparation they were able to choose what they ate and drank. The service operated within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. It supported people to access health care professionals and staff were aware of what to do if a person faced a medical emergency.

People were supported by the same regular care staff so they were able to build good relationships. People were treated in a caring and respectful manner by staff and were supported to maintain their independence. The right to confidentiality was taken seriously by the service and staff understood the importance of this.

Care plans were in place which set out how to meet people’s individual needs and these were subject to review. During the inspection we found care plans did not cover end of life care, but these were reviewed in the following week to cover this information. The service worked closely with other agencies to meet people’s needs in relation to end of life care. The service had a complaints procedure in place and people knew how to make a complaint.

People and staff spoke positively about the registered manager. Systems were in place for monitoring the quality of support provided at the service. Some of these included seeking the views of people who used the service. The registered manager networked with other agencies to help develop their knowledge and to improve the quality of support provided to people.