Holy Spirit Home Care

Holy Spirit Home Care is a domiciliary home care service providing personal care to 30 people within their own homes.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

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

There were shortfalls in the way the provider assessed the risks to people’s health and safety. Care plan records and risk assessments were not always in place where needed. Where they were in place they did not always reflect people’s current health and care needs. Quality assurance procedures were not effective in identifying risk or potential risk to people’s health and safety. The assessment of the risks associated with medicines was not thorough. There were two breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulations) 2014.

Accidents and incidents were recorded; however, there was little of evidence of reflective practice taking place to reduce the risk of recurrence.

Recognised best practice standards and guidance had not been used to assist with the forming of care plans nor to assist with acting on the risks to people’s health and safety.

We have made a recommendation to the provider about how to make improvements in this area.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. However, the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice. Care plans identified people who were living with dementia. There was little evidence of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 being used to determine if decisions had been made for them in their best interest and supporting their rights.

We have made a recommendation to the provider about how to make improvements in this area.

People received support with their meals; however, robust care planning and risk assessment regarding the requirement for good nutritional health was limited.

There were enough staff in place to meet people’s care needs. Staff were recruited safely. Robust infection control and COVID-19 policies meant the risk of the spread of infection was reduced.

People praised the quality of the care they received. They found staff to be kind, caring and considerate. Staff provided people with dignified care that respected their privacy. Care was person-centred and people praised the way staff cared for them in their preferred way. Complaints were handled in accordance with the provider’s complaints policy.

People, relatives and staff praised the registered manager; they found her to be approachable, considerate and understanding. People told us they would recommend this service to others.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we inspected

This service was registered with us on 18 September 2019 and this is the first inspection.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan for the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.