We carried out a review of the data available to us about Ella UK Limited on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Ella UK Limited, you can give feedback on this service.
Ella UK Limited, previously known as Hewitt House is a domiciliary care service based in the Orrell area of Wigan. The service provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes.
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. At the time of our inspection, the service supported 49 people with personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People and relatives spoke highly of the service and the care and support received. Words such as ‘brilliant’, ‘fantastic’ and ‘over the moon’ were used when asked to describe the service and the carers who provided support. Without fail, everyone we spoke with told us they would recommend the service to others, and some had already done so. We noted numerous examples of staff going the extra mile to ensure people’s needs and wishes were met.
The service had a clear management system in place. People, relatives and staff were extremely positive about the management of the service and support provided. One staff member told us, “I feel supported and treated like an individual, they respect my needs and my rota is arranged around these.” People told us the service and management team had gone above and beyond their roles to provide support and ensure all their needs were met. We noted lots of examples of excellent partnership working, which benefitted people, the wider community and other care providers. A range of systems and processes were used to monitor the quality and effectiveness of the service. Reflective practice and robust action planning had been used to ensure any areas for improvement were addressed timely.
People told us they felt safe in the company of care staff. Care visits were completed timely, with people informed if staff were running late. Staff remained for the full duration of visits, using any spare time after care had been provided to chat with people. People received their medicines safely, with staff’s competency to administer medicines regularly assessed. Accidents and incidents had been documented, with action taken to prevent a reoccurrence. Staff had received training in safeguarding and knew how to identify and report concerns.
Assessments were completed prior to people’s admission, to find out what support people wanted and ensure the service could meet their needs. 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. Staff received sufficient training and supervision to ensure they could carry out their roles effectively.
Care files contained detailed information about each person and how they wished to be supported. People and relatives were actively involved in ongoing discussions about care and support plans, to ensure these were reflective of changing needs. Where part of their package, people were supported to complete social activities in line with their wishes, albeit the current COVID-19 pandemic had impacted on what people had been able to do. People had been provided with the complaints process but had not needed to use this.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The service registered with CQC on the 8 January 2019 and this is the first comprehensive inspection.
Why we inspected
We carried out a focussed inspection of the service in August 2020 after receiving concerns about risk management, medicines management, recruitment, induction and staff training. We only looked at the key questions safe, effective and well-led during that inspection. We found no evidence to substantiate the allegations and rated each key question good. However, we could not provide an overall rating, as we did not look at all five key questions. This was a planned comprehensive inspection to enable us to provide an overall rating for the service.
You can read the report from the focussed inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Ella UK Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.
Hewitt House is a domiciliary care service based in the Wigan area of Orrell, Greater Manchester. The service provides personal care to people living at home and is operated by Ella UK Limited. At the time of the inspection, the service was providing personal care to 34 people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People who used the service and their relatives told us the service was safe. Staff demonstrated a good understanding about how to safeguard people from the risk of abuse. Staff recruitment procedures were robust and there were enough staff to care for people safely. Correct infection control procedures were followed and the feedback we received was that appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) was worn by staff.
Staff received the necessary induction, training, supervision and appraisal to support them in their roles. People were supported to eat and drink by staff. 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.
We received positive feedback about the management and leadership from everybody we spoke with including staff, people using the service and relatives. Staff told us there was a positive culture at the service, with good team work throughout. Appropriate governance and quality assurance systems were in place to monitor the service effectively.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection (and update)
Hewitt House registered with CQC on 8 January 2019 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
Prior to our inspection, we received concerns in relation to people’s care needs not being met and risks not being managed. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of Safe, Effective and Well-Led only.
The concerns we received related to staff recruitment, induction and training. We also received information of concern about the safe management of people’s medication. We used this information when both planning and carrying out our inspection.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions (Caring and Responsive). We therefore did not include them in this inspection. As this was a focused inspection and did not cover all five key questions, an overall rating for the location will not be produced.
Follow up
We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.