Archived: Human Support Group Limited - Heywood

Updated 31 January 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 inspection took place on 19 December 2017 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because we wanted to make sure the registered manager and staff would be available to speak with us. The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector and an expert-by-experience. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

We spoke with twelve people who used the service, two relatives, three care staff, the registered manager and the area manager. We looked at four people’s care records, three staff files and four medicine administration records. We also looked at a range of records relating to the management of the service. We looked at a variety of policies and procedures including safeguarding, complaints, mental capacity and deprivation of liberty, recruitment, accidents and incidents and equality and diversity.

Before the inspection we looked at previous inspection reports and notifications received from the provider. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law. We reviewed the Provider Information Record (PIR) before the inspection. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, this tells us what the service does well and the improvements they plan to make. This ensured we were addressing any areas of concern.

Updated 31 January 2018

The Human Support Group Limited is a domiciliary care service providing personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection care was being provided to 87 people.

On our last inspection on 26 January 2015 the service was rated as Good; on this inspection we found the service remained Good. The registered manager and staff understood their role and responsibilities to keep people safe from harm. Risks were assessed and plans put in place to keep people safe. Checks were carried out on staff to assess their suitability to support vulnerable people.

Staff received regular supervision and the training needed to meet people's needs. The registered manager and staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and, worked to ensure people's rights were respected.

The service was responsive and people received individualised care and support. People were encouraged to make their views known and the service responded by making changes. The registered manager said they welcomed comments and complaints and saw them as an opportunity to improve the care provided.

The vision, values and culture of the service were clearly communicated to and understood by staff. A quality assurance system was in place. This meant the quality of service people received was monitored on a regular basis and where shortfalls were identified they were acted upon.

People were cared for by staff who knew them well. Staff treated people with dignity and respect. Care was taken to ensure care staff were able to communicate with people using their preferred language. The manager and staff had a good understanding of equality, diversity and human rights.