Background to this inspection
Updated
8 February 2016
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
This inspection took place on 04 November 2015 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides domiciliary care services; we needed to be sure that someone would be in. The inspection team consisted of one inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
We looked at the information we held about the service. Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also looked at any statutory notifications we had received, which are notifications the provider must send us to inform us of certain events such as serious injuries. We sent questionnaires to a number of people about the service they received. We received responses from 15 people and two relatives about their views about the service. We considered this information when we planned our inspection.
During our inspection we spoke with 11 people and five relatives of people who received a service from the Human Support Group Wolverhampton by telephone. We spoke with the registered manager and six care workers. We also spoke with two social care professionals.
We reviewed a range of records about how people received their care and how the domiciliary care service was managed. We looked at four care records of people who used the service, four care workers records and records relating to the management of the service. The latter included records of spot checks, call records, provider quality checks, complaint records and questionnaires/surveys from people.
Updated
8 February 2016
The inspection was announced and took place on 04 November 2015. The Human Support Group - Wolverhampton provides personal care to people with a range of needs in their own home. The domiciliary care service trades as Homecare Support which is sub brand of the Human Support Group. We last inspected the service in January 2014 and did not identify any breaches of legal requirements at this time.
At the time of our inspection there were 77 people receiving the service. There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. 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.
People and their relatives told us they felt safe with the care workers that provided their care. There were occasions where people were concerned that planned calls were not always on time and care workers were rushed. Staff were aware of their responsibility to keep people safe and report any concerns to protect people from the risk of abuse. People had care plans and risk assessments in place that detailed their support and health needs and staff knew how to support people safely when providing care.
People received care and support from staff who knew them well. Staff received training and support from the Human Support Group Ltd (the provider) to ensure they knew how to keep people safe when providing care. The provider ensured staff were safely recruited. People felt staff skills and knowledge varied. New staff received induction training but did not always feel there was sufficient time to shadow more experienced staff so they were confident they had the experience they needed.
The provider took appropriate action to protect people’s rights and all the staff were aware of how to protect the rights of people. Care workers ensured people consented to the care they received.
People told us care workers were kind and caring. People usually received care from a consistent group of care workers which ensured they knew how people liked to be supported. People said their dignity and privacy was always respected by care workers. Care workers supported people in a way that promoted and maintained their independence.
People said they felt fully involved in their care planning process and their care was reviewed. Care workers showed they had a good awareness of people’s assessed needs and people’s personal requirements. While some people had confidence in the way the provider managed their concerns, other felt that the service did not respond to complaints they raised.
The provider had systems in place to gain people’s views and used this to inform changes to the service. Some people were very pleased with the quality of the service they received but others did not have confidence that the service was always well managed and said this impacted on the quality of the service they received. Some care workers felt motivated and well supported by the provider, whereas some felt pressured and said their morale was low. Care workers did have regular supervision and spot checks which focussed on how staff could develop their skills and knowledge.
There were processes in place to continually monitor the quality of service people received and there were changes made that had led to improvement. The provider and registered manager recognised areas for improvement and were able to tell of how they were looking to improve the service.