Archived: Hales Group Limited - Huntingdon

Updated 25 March 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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 01 March and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection because it is small and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

We reviewed previous inspection reports and notifications received by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We also looked at information we held about the service. Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.”

We spoke with seven people and two relatives by telephone. We contacted the local authority contracts' team and the local safeguarding authority team to obtain their views about the service provided at Hales Group Limited - Huntingdon.

We looked at records in relation to five people’s care. We spoke with the branch manager, care co-ordinator, four care workers and an administrator. We looked at records relating to the management of risk, administration of medicines, minutes of meetings, staff recruitment and training and systems for monitoring the quality of the service.

Updated 25 March 2017

Hales Group Limited - Huntingdon is registered to provide a personal care service for people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection 45 people were using the service.

This inspection was undertaken by one inspector. At the last inspection on 29 December 2015 we found the provider required was in breach of one regulation that we assessed. This was in relation to the management failing to notify us of important events. We received an action plan from the provider which detailed the actions that that they were taking to improve the service. During the inspection we found that the required improvements had been made.

At this inspection we found the service remained ‘Good’.

A registered manager was not in post at the time of this inspection. The branch manager was however in the process of actively applying to become a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Various processes and systems were in place to help keep people safe. These processes included staff's knowledge about managing risks to people and safeguarding them as well as administering medicines as prescribed.

People's assessed care needs were met by a sufficient number of suitably qualified staff. A robust and thorough recruitment process was in place and this helped ensure that staff recruited were suitable to work with people who used the service.

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.

People’s needs were assessed by skilled staff who then implemented people's care and support based upon people's preferences. People and their relatives were given information about their care in a format that people could benefit from.

People's health and nutritional needs were met by staff who had been trained on subjects appropriate to people's care needs. Staff respected people's choices of food and drinks. People had access to health care professionals, when they needed them.

Staff were aware of what was expected of them and implemented the values of the provider in providing dignified and individualised care.

A range of effective audits and quality assurance systems were in place to assess, monitor and improve the service. Improvements in the way the service was managed had been made including notifying the CQC about important events.

People's, staff's and relatives views about the quality of the service were sought through face to face meetings, surveys and telephone calls. Feedback was used to recognise good practice and to drive improvements where shortfalls were identified.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.