26 February 2019
During a routine inspection
Two Hoots is a domiciliary care agency, set up to provide care to people in their own home. At the time of inspection, there was one person using the service.
People’s experience of using this service:
The person using the service felt safe and had confidence in the provider to act on any concerns. The person told us, “I feel safe now. I have no worries. I have people around me that actually care about me and I get on well with all my staff.” The person and provider were honest about the fact that in the previous year there had been times when the care had not been good. The registered manager had taken action to rectify this, which included employing an entirely new staff team and reviewing how the company worked. We understood from conversations that in many respects this meant the service was starting anew and things were still settling.
The registered manager and staff worked closely with the person to involve them in changes and decisions over how their care was provided. This included involving the person in recruitment and staffing decisions. It was clear that the previous year had been difficult and we considered some areas of improvement with the registered manager, to ensure lessons were learned to prevent reoccurrence of events. The registered manager and operations manager were engaged with our inspection and open to feedback, to ensure improvements would be made. This included aspects of governance, record-keeping and quality assurance that needed to be developed to underpin safe, good care. Our judgements reflect what we found at the time of our inspection and the experience of the care the person had in their own home at the time of our visit, which was good.
Recruitment was ongoing to rebuild the person’s staff team, however they felt there were enough staff to meet their needs. Safeguarding and risk management processes were in place, which staff were aware of and in which the person was involved. The person checked their own medicines and took them with support from staff.
The service focussed on good outcomes for the person and a promotion of their independence. The person and staff spoke warmly about each other and we observed caring, encouraging and respectful interactions. Training for the new staff was being rebuilt, but the registered manager was at hand to show staff what they needed to learn. Comprehensive care plans were in place to provide staff with person-centred knowledge. Care was personalised and responsive to individual needs.
The service continued to meet the characteristics of Good in most areas. More information is in the full report, which is also available on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Rating at last inspection: Good (22 September 2016)
Why we inspected:
This was a planned inspection that was scheduled based on the previous rating. We inspected to check whether the service had sustained its Good rating.
Follow up:
We will follow up on this inspection through ongoing monitoring of the service, through conversations and checking relevant notifications