Happy Home Care Services Ltd

Happy Homecare Services Limited is a domiciliary care agency. The service provides personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 21 people using the service. 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

We were not assured all recruitment checks had been undertaken. Governance systems were in place to ensure all aspects of the service were reviewed and checked regularly. People and their relatives consistently told us the care they received was safe. There were enough staff available to meet people’s needs. People told us staff always attended their scheduled visits and would let them know if they were delayed. People were supported to take their medicines safely and this was consistently well recorded. People told us staff took appropriate infection protection control measures.

We saw evidence people had an initial assessment, and this was used to develop their care plans. People and their relatives described ways they were involved in the development and updating of care plans and risk assessments.

People and their relatives consistently told us staff obtained their consent and views about the service they received. Staff gave us many examples of how they knew people well and how they wished to be cared for.

Staff received an induction programme at the start of their employment and further coaching and shadowing of experienced staff, which gave them the skills and knowledge to care for people in their own homes. Staff were further supported with supervision and appraisals.

People and their relatives told us staff consistently gave them choices. Staff understood how to provide personalised care and ensure people’s nutritional needs wet met.

People and their relatives 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.

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

The last rating for this service was inadequate (published 13 September 2022).

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

This service has been in Special Measures since 13 September 2022. During this inspection the provider demonstrated improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 13 September 2022. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment, safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment and good governance.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Effective, Responsive and Well-led which contain those requirements.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from inadequate to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Happy Homecare Services Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation about the management of some aspects of recruitment.

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.

Happy Homecare Services Limited is a domiciliary care agency. The service provides personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 29 people using the service. 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

The provider's systems and processes were not always effective in assessing, monitoring and mitigating risks to the health, safety and welfare of people using the service. The provider had some quality monitoring processes in place, but these did not always enable them to identify and address the issues we found during the inspection. This placed people at risk of harm.

The provider did not always manage medicines safely. Systems in place to manage medicines were not always effective, care records did not always include clear and up to date information about current medication and the level of support people required to take their medicines safely. This placed people at risk of harm.

Care plans were not always reviewed and updated as people's needs changed. People were supported by staff who knew them well and were able to identify people's likes and dislikes.

New staff received an induction programme and most staff had completed a range of training which gave them the skills and knowledge to care for people in their own homes. The provider had a plan to address staff training. Staff told us they felt supported by the provider.

Governance systems were not always in place to ensure all aspects of the service were reviewed and checked regularly. Systems to monitor accidents and incidents and lessons learnt required review.

People and relatives told us they were provided with safe care. They said staff were kind, caring and patient. People were treated with dignity and respect. Staff cared about and had warm and positive relationships with people.

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.

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 4 September 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the date of registration and the date 'regulated activity' started.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

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 monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have identified breaches in relation to assessment of people’s needs, risk assessments, management of medication and the provider’s systems of governance 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 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.

The overall rating for this service is ‘Inadequate’ and the service is therefore in ‘special measures’. This means we will keep the service under review and, if we do not propose to cancel the provider’s registration, we will re-inspect within 6 months to check for significant improvements.

If the provider has not made enough improvement within this timeframe. And there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall rating, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures. This will mean we will begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will usually lead to cancellation of their registration or to varying the conditions the registration.

For adult social care services, the maximum time for being in special measures will usually be no more than 12 months. If the service has demonstrated improvements when we inspect it. And it is no longer rated as inadequate for any of the five key questions it will no longer be in special measures.