Background to this inspection
Updated
28 April 2022
The inspection
We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.
Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people using the service and staff.
Inspection team
This inspection was completed by one inspector.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
Registered Manager
This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 11 March 2022 and ended on 23 March 2022.
What we did before the inspection
The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed the records we hold about the service. We used this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location’s office. We used technology such as video calls to enable us to engage with the registered manager and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation. The inspection started on 11 March and ended on 23 March 2022.
We reviewed the care documents; daily notes, medication records, care plans and risk assessments of three people who used the service. We spoke with two people, a person’s relative and to two members of staff and the registered manager. We also reviewed staff recruitment checks, training records, policies and emergency plans.
Updated
28 April 2022
About the service
New Hope Community Healthcare is a domiciliary care agency supporting people with the regulated activity of personal care, in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting two people and a third who occasionally used the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
There were key aspects of this service which were positive, but there were also some shortfalls.
There was a lack of systems to promote people’s safety in relation to injuries and accidents. There were shortfalls with how staff training was provided and how staff competencies were checked by the registered manager. Risk assessments and reviews of care were not always complete. Effective plans had not always been made to respond to the risks which some people faced. There was a lack of checks by the registered manager and provider to assess the quality of the service they were providing. These shortfalls had the potential to place people at risk of harm.
People spoke well of the registered manager and staff who cared for them. People and a person’s relative told us staff supported them in ways they wanted and at times of the day they had chosen. The registered manager had listened to what people wanted staff to do for them.
People told us staff were kind and respectful of them, their wishes, and their homes. People felt safe in the company of the care 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; but the systems in the service did not always support this practice.
Staff felt well supported by the registered manager, who they said was always available to assist them if something went wrong. Staff had regular supervisions and meetings. There was a positive culture at the service.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
This service was registered with us on 10 April 2019 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the date the service was first registered.
Enforcement and Recommendations
We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.
We have identified a breach in relation to the governance and leadership of the service, this is about a lack of systems and quality monitoring checks completed by the registered manager and provider.
Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
Follow up
We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.
This was an ‘inspection using remote technology’. This means we did not visit the office location and instead used technology such as electronic file sharing to gather information, and video and phone calls to engage with people using the service as part of this performance review and assessment.