8 December 2015
During a routine inspection
Care Herts provides personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection 23 people used the services of Care Herts with 21 people receiving personal care. People who used the service funded their own care privately or through direct payments.
The service had a registered manager in post. 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.
This was the first inspection of Care Herts since registration in December 2014. Whilst we found there were some areas of the service provision that were not fully meeting the requirements of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010 it was clear that the registered manager was already making the necessary improvements.
People and their relatives felt that the service provided was very good and that they felt safe and secure. The registered manager demonstrated that they understood their role and responsibilities in relation to safeguarding vulnerable adults however; some staff members needed further support in this area. The registered manager was proactively working to address some shortfalls in their recruitment processes and to ensure that a robust recruitment procedure was operated going forward. There were sufficient numbers of staff available to meet people’s individual support and care needs. People who received support with their medicines told us that this was provided safely. However the staff team had not been provided with practical training to support them to manage medicines safely and had not had their competency assessed in this area.
People who used the service told us that they had confidence in the staff team that provided their care and support. Staff members were provided with an induction when they started to work with the agency and on-line basic core training. They were supported by the registered manager and had regular 1:1 meetings where they could discuss any concerns either about people’s care or their own personal development. The registered manager carried out spot checks of staff performance to help ensure that people received the standard of care they expected to receive. People’s choice was central to the care they received. People were supported to attend GP and specialist health appointments.
People told us that they experienced warm and understanding care from the staff team. Staff members were proud to work for Care Herts and told us that this was because everyone who worked for the service had a caring attitude. Staff respected and promoted people’s dignity and people felt that they mattered.
People who used the service and their relatives told us that they always felt involved and said the service was flexible and able to meet their needs. People’s care and support needs were kept under review to help ensure that they continued to be met. People who used the service felt confident to raise any concerns and were confident that they would be managed appropriately.
Staff said that they were fully supported by the registered manager. People’s views about the service provision were gathered regularly to help the registered manager assure themselves that the service they provided was safe and was meeting people’s needs.