Archived: HCHA Care Services

Updated 21 November 2018

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

This comprehensive inspection took place on 17 October 2018 and was announced. We contacted people who used the service by telephone on 19 October 2018. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because the location provides a domiciliary care service. We needed to be sure that the registered manager would be available. The inspection was completed by one inspector.

We used the information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used the PIR and all the intelligence we held, to help inform us about the level of risk for this service.

We contacted the local safeguarding and contracts and commissioning teams to request their views of the service. We received information from a social care professional involved with supporting some of the people who used the service.

During the inspection, we spoke with three people who used the service and one of their relatives. We looked at care records for three people and other important documentation including medication administration records (MARs), daily recording and monitoring charts for food and fluid intake.

We spoke with the registered manager, the assistant manager and two care staff. We looked at three staff recruitment files, staff supervision, appraisal and training records, as well as other records used in the management and monitoring of the service.

Updated 21 November 2018

St Giles Court is a small domiciliary service, which provides personal care to people in their own homes in Kingston upon Hull. The service provides support to people with a range of needs. These include older people living with a physical disability or dementia, and younger people living with a learning or physical disability, autistic spectrum disorder, a mental health illness or sensory impairment.

At the time of the inspection, there were 15 people receiving the regulated activity of personal care.

At our last inspection on 15 April 2016, we rated the service Good. At this inspection, we found the evidence continued to support the rating of Good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

The provider had exceeded expectations in the way effective health and social care and support was delivered to people. The quality of life for two people who currently received a service and one person who no longer required a service had been significantly enhanced by the creative support staff provided to them. The registered manager demonstrated the importance of effectively monitoring and keeping support under review even when this meant the end of care provision for one person as the assistance provided made continued support no longer necessary. The comments from people who used the service and a social care professional were extremely positive about the support provided; they all confirmed staff helped them to make their own decisions and choices. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff were highly skilled and knew how to look after people very well. The service was committed to providing a learning and development programme that nurtured staff's knowledge, skill and professional development.

Staff knew how to keep people safe from the risk of harm or abuse. Staff completed assessments to help minimise risk without compromising people’s right to make their own decisions. Staff completed safeguarding training and had demonstrated they knew how to raise concerns with relevant agencies. Medicines were managed safely and people received them as prescribed. Staff recruitment was good and the provider had sufficient staff deployed to meet people’s needs. Staff had access to personal protective equipment to help minimise the spread of infection.

People told us staff approach was kind and caring. The staff respected people’s privacy and dignity and supported them to be as independent as possible. People’s method of communication was assessed, and they were given documents and had contact systems that met accessible information standards. Personal information was held securely and staff were aware of the need to maintain confidentiality.

People had assessments of their needs completed and care task sheets provided staff with guidance on how to support them. The task sheets could contain more in-depth information about personal preferences, which was mentioned to the registered manager to address. In discussions though, it was clear staff knew people’s needs very well, which was due to a consistent staff team. Staff supported people to access community facilities to prevent social isolation, when this was part of their care pan.

The provider had a quality monitoring system in place, which consisted of audits, observation of staff practice, surveys and meetings. The culture of the organisation was one of openness and inclusiveness, and was described as ‘family-orientated’. The registered manager had developed positive relationships with community professionals, was approachable and supportive of staff, and led by example. Staff were encouraged to raise concerns so lessons could be learned.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.