Archived: Niche Care Calderdale

Niche Care Calderdale is a domiciliary care service based in Halifax. At the time of inspection, the service was being run from the office of Niche Care Kirklees based in Huddersfield. This was due to the small number of people being supported by Niche Care Calderdale and because the registered manager of the Kirklees branch was managing both services, whilst the registered manager of the Calderdale branch was on maternity leave. At the time of inspection, Niche Care Calderdale were supporting six people, although one was in hospital and had been for some time.

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

We found improvements were required with ensuring care was provided in line with care plans, management of complaints, the timing and duration of care visits, and timeliness with which issues were addressed.

Care plans were detailed and clearly explained how people wanted to be cared for or supported. However, people and relatives provided mixed views about the actual provision of care, with some stating carers did not always follow the care plan, which they felt was linked to the inconsistency of visit times and carers being rushed.

People told us they knew how to complain and two relatives confirmed complaints had been reported to the service via phone calls. We found no record of these concerns within the service’s complaints file. The manager told us this was because these issues had not been escalated to management by the person they had been reported to.

The times of people’s care visit were inconsistent and staff did not always remain for the full duration of the call. People told us this was one of the main concerns with the service.

We have made a recommendation about the provider ensuring visits are scheduled in line with agreed times as stated on people’s care plans.

A range of audits and governance processes were in place to monitor the quality and effectiveness of care delivery. Actions were generated from audits and added to the services improvement plan. Although a number of the issues reported to us by people and/or relatives had been identified through the audit process, actions and improvements had not been made timely.

We have made a recommendation about the audit and action plan process.

People told us they received safe care, although some staff were ‘better’ than others. Staff had received training in safeguarding and knew how to report any concerns. People who received assistance to take their medicines, had no concerns with the support provided. However, one relative felt staff needed to be more observant when administering medicines. People confirmed staff wore PPE and staff told us specific COVID-19 training had been provided

Staff told us they received enough training and supervision to carry out their roles. 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; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 3 August 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the date of registration in order to provide an initial rating for the service.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe section of the full report.

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

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.