Walfinch Hemel Hempstead & Watford, Dunstable, Luton & Leighton Buzzard

Updated 29 June 2023

The inspection

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post. A manager had recently started who planned to submit their registration application with CQC.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 12 May 2023 and ended on 24 May 2023. We made phone calls to people and their relatives on 12 May 2023. We visited the location’s office on 24 May 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since registration. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.

We used information gathered as part of monitoring activity that took place on 12 October 2022 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements.

We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 2 people and 3 relatives of people who received support for feedback on their experience of the care provided. We spoke with provider, manager, quality and compliance manager and 2 care staff. We also received email feedback from 4 care staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people’s care and medicine records. We looked at 2 files in relation to staff recruitment and support. We looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 29 June 2023

About the service

Walfinch Hemel Hempstead & Watford, Dunstable, Luton & Leighton Buzzard is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to adults in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 5 people using the service.

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

A new manager had started in post several weeks before the inspection. As they were not yet registered with the CQC which is a mandatory requirement, the key question of Well-Led could not be rated ‘good’ at this time.

A new electronic care planning and medicines administration system was introduced recently. The manager had good understanding and oversight of this system, along with the processes in place to assess, monitor and review the quality of the service. At the time of inspection it remained early days in using the system and undertaking quality assurance checks and audits. These needed time to be embedded and sustained in practice.

People were cared for safely. Risk assessments were completed and reviewed regularly and as people’s needs changed. Safeguarding procedures were in place should any concerns arise and the manager knew how to follow correct processes in this area. Safe recruitment practices were followed to ensure staff were suitable for their roles.

There were enough staff to meet people’s care needs and people received care at the agreed times. People were supported with their medicines and good infection control practices were in place.

People’s care records contained clear information covering all aspects of their care and support needs. Some new staff had recently joined the team. As a whole, the staff team had a good understanding of people’s wishes and individual preferences. People’s personal preferences, likes and dislikes, communication needs and links with family were all considered within the care plans. Staff received training to meet people’s needs.

Where required, people were supported with their eating and drinking to ensure their dietary requirements were met. People were supported to access health care services when needed.

People received support from reliable, compassionate staff. Staff were caring in their approach and had good relationships with people and their relatives. People were treated with respect. Staff maintained people’s dignity and promoted their independence. Consent was sought before care was delivered.

The manager was aware of their legal responsibilities and worked in an open and transparent way. People and their relatives knew who to contact if they had any concerns or anything needed to be sorted out.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives, 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 16 December 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

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