Human Support Group Limited - The Windings

Human Support Group Limited - The Windings is an extra care housing setting providing personal care to 26 people who lived in their own apartments at the time of the inspection. 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

Medicines were not always managed safely. Staffing pressures and a lack of registered manager in post had impacted on the capacity for the remaining management team to undertake quality audits which would have identified issues much sooner. Plans were in place to address this. New staff had been recruited and a new manager had come into post during our inspection. This person had yet to register with the Care Quality Commission.

Other areas of people’s care were safe. Risk assessments and appropriate care plans had been developed to meet people’s needs. Staff were also recruited safely.

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 were involved in developing their care plans which were person-centred and changes were made as people’s needs changed.

People received a caring service. People told us they were treated with respect and staff upheld their dignity during care visits. People were supported by staff who knew them well.

The provider worked with other professionals and organisations to ensure positive health outcomes were achieved for people.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 21 October 2020).

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services rated Good and Outstanding to test the reliability of our new monitoring approach.

Enforcement

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 discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.

We have identified breaches in relation to the safe management of medicines and effective oversight at this inspection.

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 for 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 return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

About the service

The Windings is an ‘extra care’ service providing personal care to 20 people living in their own flats at the time of the inspection. 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

People told us they felt safe and trusted the staff who came into their home. They told us staff never missed any calls and told us staff left their homes clean and tidy after visits. People were protected by safeguarding processes and staff were clear of the process to follow to refer concerns. Staff were safely recruited and had the necessary skills to meet people’s needs. People were protected by risk assessments relating to their support and assessed hazards in their home environment. People received support with prescribed medicines and had their nutritional needs assessed. When needed, people were supported to access to health professionals and had their health needs monitored.

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. Support plans were person centred, detailed and were presented in a format which made them easy to understand. People were aware of their support plan and confirmed they had the opportunity to be involved in making changes.

People felt cared about and confirmed they were treated with respect. Sensitive information was kept confidential at all times.

Complaints were dealt with in a timely manner and to the satisfaction of the person raising the concern and Information on a range of issues were presented in a way was appropriate to people’s understanding and sensory limitations. The views of people were regularly sought. Where action was needed to improve support; immediate action was taken to achieve this.

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 5th June 2019 and this is the first inspection.

The service under the previous provider had not received a rating following its initial registration on 8 February 2018.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection following safeguarding concerns that had been received, a change in managerial oversight and to assess hygiene practices in light of the Covid 19 pandemic.

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.