Harmony Care - Little Bloxwich Community Hub

Updated 10 December 2021

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and a specialist advisor who was a nurse. An Expert by Experience made calls to relatives on 20 and 21 October 2021 to gather feedback on the service provided. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the Local Authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with six people who used the service and seven relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five care staff, including senior care staff and the registered manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included six people's care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We spoke with two professionals who regularly visit the service.

Updated 10 December 2021

About the service

Harmony Care- Little Bloxwich Community Hub is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to 46 people across Walsall at the time of the inspection. People were supported within their own homes, flats or supporting living accommodation.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

We found a lack of recorded best interest decisions for people who lacked capacity.

Relatives and people told us they felt safe with the staff who supported people.

Staff had regular safeguarding training and knew about the different types of abuse. Staff understood their responsibilities in relation to protecting people from the risk of harm. Where risks to people had been identified, risk assessments were in place with clear instructions on how to protect people.

People were supported by staff who were well trained and competent in their role. People were assessed before they used the service to ensure their needs and preferences could be met. Staff liaised with other health care professionals to ensure people's health care needs were met safety. Staff were very knowledgeable about people's changing needs and supported people with their medicines when they needed them.

Staff understood the importance of ensuring people's rights were understood and respected. People told us they felt well cared for by staff and this was confirmed by relatives. People told us staff treated them with respect and dignity and encouraged them to maintain relationships and independence.

People's communication needs were assessed and understood by staff. People were provided with information in a format which met their needs.

Staff spoke positively about working for the provider. They felt well supported and they could talk to management at any time. They felt confident any concerns they raised would be acted upon promptly. They felt valued and happy in their role.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right Support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were working towards consistently meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right support:

People were supported to be independent and have choice and control. Improvements are required to ensure best interest decisions are recorded.

Right care:

Care was delivered in a way which meant people's human rights were respected.

Right culture:

Harmony Care were working with management and staff at all levels to continually improve the culture of the service. Staff were aware of the organisations visions and values which were centred around supporting people to live meaningful lives.

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 requires improvement (published 26 February 2020).

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 16 December 2019. 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.

We received concerns in relation to the management of safeguarding incidents, the administration of medicines and the management of quality assurance processes. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective, responsive and well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

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

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.