Honest Home Care

Updated 9 January 2025

Date of assessment: 8 April to 24 April 2025. We visited the service on 8 April 2025.

This is a domiciliary care service, registered to provide personal care for people living in their own homes in the community. They provide support to people with a range of different needs including older people and those with a physical disability. At the time of the assessment the service was providing the regulated activity of personal care for 53 people.

This assessment was prompted in part by receipt of information about the service as well as the length of time since we last inspected. Although we found some concerns around staff deployment, action was already being taken, and revised systems were to be implemented to improve rostering of staff.
We rated this service under our previous methodology in September 2021 where it was inspected and rated as requires improvement overall. At this assessment we reviewed all 5 key questions and rated the provider overall good.

At the last assessment the provider was found to be in breach of the legal regulation relating to good governance. Improvements were found at this assessment, and the provider was no longer in breach of the regulation related to good governance.

We found the service had a good learning culture and people and staff felt able to raise concerns.

The provider was in the process of changing to a new electronic care recording system. A transition plan was in place with paper records still being available to guide staff until all care plans on the system were fully complete and up to date. Care records we inspected were person centred and were seen to be reviewed regularly.

Staff treated people as individuals offering choice and supporting independence.

People were treated with kindness and compassion. Staff protected their privacy and dignity.

Leaders were visible, knowledgeable and supportive, helping staff develop in their roles. Staff felt supported and told us they felt happy in their work.
 

Updated 9 January 2025

During the assessment we received mixed feedback from people who used the service and their relatives about their experiences of care. People and their relatives were mainly positive about the staff that supported them. One relative told us, “Staff are absolutely excellent. They communicate brilliantly, for example If they’re running late, they’ll phone and tell us. They speak to us with respect and if [Name] is upset, they’ll reassure [person].” Another told us, “[Name] has a cohort of people who visit regularly and I’m absolutely grateful for what they do. They listen to [person], do what [person] asks and will sit and chat if that’s what [person] wants. [Name] has a lovely banter with them.”

We did receive some concerns about consistency of staff and call times. One person told us, “I never know who is coming and they’re always running late.” Another commented that an early evening call was too early for their relative to be supported to get ready for bed. We discussed this with the provider, and they agreed to further review their rosters and look at solutions for issues presented by the electronic call monitoring system.

People and their families told us they were treated with dignity and respect. One relative said, “They respect [Name’s] privacy and dignity when washing and dressing [person].” Another said, “They chat to him. They don’t chat over him.”

Feedback was regularly sought, and complaints and concerns were used as an opportunity to improve the service.