The inspection took place on 29 January 2016 and 16 February 2016 and was announced. We last inspected the service on 2 January 2014 and found the registered provider met the regulations we inspected against.Hetton Home Care Services provides domiciliary care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection the service provided support to over 400 people.
The service had a registered manager. 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.
The registered provider had breached regulation 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. This was because medicines records did not accurately account for the medicines administered to people and some medicines records were inaccurate. Staff did not always supervise people to make sure they took their prescribed medicines. Medicines audits were inconsistent and did not always evidence that action had been taken to investigate gaps in records.
You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.
People said they were very happy with the care and support they received. They told us they were treated with dignity and respect from kind, caring and considerate staff. One person told us, “I am certainly well cared for. I can’t fault anything. To me they are a really caring company. I mean it from the heart.” Another person commented, “The way the carers approach things makes a big difference to make me feel comfortable. I consider I am fortunate in having the carers. It is like having family do things for you and to feel at ease and happy in your own home. I feel comfortable enough to have a conversation with them.” Staff supported people to maintain as much of their independence as possible.
People told us they felt safe receiving care from the service. One person said, “I feel perfectly safe and happy with them and comfortable. I can ring the office if there are problems and there is always somebody there.” Potential risks had been identified and assessed to help keep people safe.
Staff showed a good understanding of safeguarding adults and the registered provider’s whistle blowing procedure, including how to report concerns.
People told us staff were consistent and reliable. One person told us, “I have the same carers, except holiday times. I get used to the regular ones and that makes a difference. They are a really well organised company. They are always prompt.” Staff were recruited in line with the registered provider’s recruitment and selection procedure which included requesting and receiving references and checks with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
Staff members were well supported and received the training they needed to support people. Staff had regular one to one time with their line manager to discuss their training and development.
People were asked to give their consent before staff provided care or support. One person said, “They always ask what you want.” Staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and knew how to support people with making day to day decisions including meal choices. One staff member said, “We give choices and guidance, I show objects rather than tell [the person].”
People were involved in planning their care and support. One person said, “The office come and go over things. [Staff member] comes every so often and goes over things with you. If there are any changes or anything.” They said the registered provider tried to accommodate the changes they requested.
People’s needs had been assessed and personalised care plans developed. Care plans provided staff with information about how people wanted their care provided and details of people’s preferences.
People we spoke with did not raise any concerns with us. One person said, “I haven’t any complaints at all. If there was anything I felt wasn’t right I know I could discuss it with the office. I admire the work they do.” There were systems in place to log and investigate complaints.
The registered manager had not submitted some statutory notifications to the Care Quality Commission. Staff felt able to give their views and ideas about the service at any time.
Unannounced spot checks and monitoring visits were carried out to check the quality of people’s care.
The registered provider consulted with people to gather their views about the service. During the last consultation people had given mostly positive feedback.