Archived: Heroic Care

Updated 28 March 2017

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.

The inspection visit took place on 20 February 2017 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the service is a small home care agency and the provider is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

The inspection team consisted of an 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.

Before the inspection visit we contacted all of the people who used the service. We spoke with relatives of five of the nine people who used the service.

On the day of the inspection we spoke with the registered manager, a team leader and an administrator. We looked at three people’s care plans and associated records. We looked at information about support staff received through training and appraisal. We looked at two staff recruitment files to see how the provider operated their recruitment procedures to ensure they only recruited staff who were suited to work for the service. We looked at records associated with the provider’s monitoring of the quality of the service.

After our visit we carried out telephone interviews with our four care workers.

Updated 28 March 2017

The inspection took place on 20 February 2017 and was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice because the service is a small home care agency and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure they would be in.

Heroic Care is a home care agency people who live autism and learning or physical disability. At the time of our inspection nine people used the service.

People who used the service were safe. They were supported and cared for by staff that were exceptionally skilled. Staff consistently supported people to lead the lives they wanted and to achieve exciting and challenging objectives. The provider’s recruitment procedures ensured only staff with the required competences and values were employed.

People’s care plans included risk assessments of activities associated with their care and support. People were supported to manage risks in order to achieve what was important to them.

People were supported to receive the medicines that they needed by staff who were trained in this area.

Staff had excellent training and support to ensure that they understood the often complex needs of people who used the service. They put their training into practice and consistently provided outstanding care that met people’s needs. People using the service and their relatives consistently described the care and support as outstanding. People experienced care and support that improved the quality of their life and taught them new and exciting skills.

The registered manager understood their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2015. Staff had awareness of the MCA and understood they could provide care and support only if a person consented to it and if the proper safeguards were put in place to protect their rights.

Staff made special efforts to support people to have meals they enjoyed. They also supported people to access health services when they needed them. They had training about people's medical conditions and were able to recognise if a person's health deteriorated. When people needed it they took appropriate swift action to support the person to access health services. People and their relatives told us that they received care and support that had a significant positive impact on their lives.

People using the service and their relatives told us consistently that they held staff in high regard. The registered manager `matched' staff with people using the service which meant people were supported by staff who naturally empathised with them. Staff were caring and knowledgeable about people’s needs. People were consistently supported by the same staff which was important to people and their relatives.

Staff supported people to express their views in a variety of ways. Staff excelled at how they communicated with people and involved them in decisions about their care and support. This resulted in people consistently experiencing care that met their needs.

Relatives told us that people using the service were always treated with dignity and respect. The provider actively promoted values of compassion and kindness in the service.

People contributed to the assessment of their needs and to reviews of their care plans. Their care plans were exceptionally well focused on people's needs and objectives they wanted to achieve. Staff provided outstanding care and support that consistently met people’s needs. Staff supported people to maintain their interests and hobbies and to learn new skills. This made a big difference to people. It helped them build confidence to lead lives that were much more independent and active than before they used the service. This also supported people to emerge from social isolation which had a transforming effect on their lives.

People knew how to raise concerns if they felt they had to and they were confident they would be taken seriously by the provider. People told us they had never had a reason to raise a concern. When people expressed preferences about their care and support these were acted upon by the service.

The provider had effective arrangements for monitoring the quality of the service. These arrangements placed a high value to people’s feedback which was acted upon. The quality assurance procedures were used to continually improve people’s experience of the service. The registered manager's aim was to have as near a perfect service as possible for people currently receiving care and support before expanding the service to provide care and support for more people.