Hales Group Limited - Wickford

Updated 8 January 2019

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.

Inspection team:

One inspector carried out this inspection.

Service and service type:

The Hales Group is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care to people in their own homes.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

Inspection site visit activity started on 6 December 2018 and ended on 11 December 2018. This included visiting the office location on 6 December to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. On 6 and 11 December we interviewed care staff over the phone and made phone calls to people who used the service to find out their views.

What we did:

We reviewed information we held about the service including statutory notifications which include information the provider is required to send us by law. We also looked at the most recent audit completed by the local authority to monitor safety and quality.

During the inspection we spoke with the regional quality lead, the regional training manager, the branch manager and three members of staff. We spoke with five people who used the service. We looked at three people’s care records including their medication records and daily notes. We looked at three staff member’s recruitment records. We reviewed training and supervision records and documents relating to the management of the service including complaints and compliments, satisfaction surveys, minutes of meetings and quality audits.

Updated 8 January 2019

What life is like for people using this service:

The provider recognised that the retention of staff had a positive impact on the quality of care people received so had introduced various incentive schemes to recognise good practice and show staff they were valued. Consequently, the service retained a consistent workforce which meant that people benefitted from having regular care workers who knew them well. Work had been done on improving support planning which reflected a commitment to delivering person-centred care.

Staff were kind and caring and people were treated with dignity and respect. People were involved in decisions about how they would like their care provided and were supported to make their own choices and be as independent as they could be.

Some people felt that communication at the office could be improved as people were not always notified when the staff rota changed or if staff were going to be late. The service recognised that improvements were required and had invested in new technology to address these concerns and improve the safety and quality of the service.

Risks to people had been identified and staff had a good knowledge of how to keep people safe from avoidable harm. People were supported to take their medicines in a safe way by staff who had been assessed and trained as competent. There were sufficient numbers of staff who had been safely recruited to meet people's needs.

Staff received an excellent induction and benefitted from face to face classroom based training, supervision and observations of practice to ensure staff were competent in their role. People were assisted to have enough to eat and drink and maintain their health and wellbeing.

People's needs had been holistically assessed and they received care and support that was personalised to meet their individual needs.

The service responded positively to concerns and complaints and worked with people and their relatives to resolve issues.

The service engaged with people to find out their views. Feedback was used to drive improvements. Regular checks were completed by staff, the management team and provider to monitor the quality and safety of the service.

More information is in the detailed findings below.

Rating at last inspection:

First Inspection

About the service:

The Hales Group provides personal care to people living in their own home. This includes adults with physical disabilities, learning difficulties and people living with dementia. At the time of inspection the service was supporting 39 people.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned first inspection of the service.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive.