Archived: Hatzfeld Homecare Services

Updated 17 July 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 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 comprehensive inspection took place on 12 June 2018 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because we needed to be sure the registered manager would be available.

Before the inspection, we reviewed information we held about the service, which included notifications they had sent us. A notification is information about important events, which the provider is required to send us by law. We also contacted Local Authority commissioners of adult social care services and Healthwatch and asked them for their views of the service provided.

We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. 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.

The inspection team consisted of an inspector and two Experts by Experiences. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. They carried out the telephone interviews with people prior to the office-based inspection. They spoke with 33 people who used the service. The inspector visited the office location to see the registered manager, office staff and to speak with care staff.

The inspection was informed by feedback from the telephone interviews as well as questionnaires completed by a number of people using the service, relatives, staff and community professionals. We sent 119 questionnaires out and received 28 responses, 19 of which were from people who used the service.

During the inspection, we spoke with five members of the care staff, the registered manager, general manager and a number of office based staff.

We looked at records relating to six people who used the service as well as three staff recruitment records. We looked at other information related to the running of and the quality of the service. This included quality assurance audits, training information for care staff, staff duty rotas, meeting minutes and arrangements for managing complaints.

We asked the registered manager to send us copies of various policies and procedures after the inspection. They did this within the requested timeframe.

Updated 17 July 2018

We carried out an announced inspection of the service on 12 June 2018. Hatzfeld Homecare Services is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It currently provides a service to older adults. Not everyone using Hatzfeld Homecare Services receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also take into account any wider social care provided.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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.

At the time of the inspection, 94 people received some element of support with their personal care. This is the service’s fourth inspection under its current registration. At the previous inspection, the service was rated as ‘Requires Improvement’ overall. At this inspection, they improved the overall rating to ‘Good’.

People told us staff made them feel safe when staff supported them. Effective processes were in place to reduce the risk of people experiencing avoidable harm and to people’s ongoing health and safety. There were enough staff to support people and staff arrival times were closely monitored to ensure sustained levels of punctuality. People’s medicines were managed safely. Staff understood how to reduce the risk of the spread of infection. The provider had processes in place to investigate accidents and incidents and to learn from mistakes.

People’s care was provided in line with current legislation and best practice guidelines. People felt staff were well trained and understood how to support them. Records showed staff received ongoing training, professional development and supervision. People’s nutritional needs were met and staff supported people effectively with their meals. Information was available to support staff with caring for people. Other health and social care agencies were involved where further support was needed for people. 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 liked the staff who supported them and they felt they were treated with dignity and respect. Staff communicated effectively with people and positive relationships between them had been formed. People were encouraged to do as much for themselves as possible and were involved with decisions about their care.

Assessments of people’s needs were carried out before joining the service to ensure staff were able to support them effectively. People’s care records were person centred and people told us staff respected their wished to have their care provided in the way they wanted. People felt staff responded to their complaints effectively, records viewed confirmed this. People’s diverse needs were discussed with them during their initial assessment and then during further reviews.

The registered manager carried out their role in line with their registration with the CQC. Notifiable incidents were reported to the CQC. The registered manager took an active role in ensuring the risks to people’s safety was acted on immediately. They were supported by a dedicated staff team and the provider in doing so. High quality staff performance was rewarded. People and staff were given the opportunity comment on how the service could be developed and improved. Auditing processes were in place and these were effective in identifying and acting on the risks to people’s health, safety and well-being.