Background to this inspection
Updated
15 October 2019
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 Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
This inspection was carried out by one inspector, a specialist advisor in governance, an assistant inspector and two experts 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
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in. Inspection activity started on 15 August and ended on 27 August. We visited the office location on 15 and 27 August.
What we did before the inspection
We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We reviewed information we had received about the service since the date of registration. We sought feedback from the local authority.
During the inspection
We spoke with 20 people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 11 members of staff including the registered manager, regional manager, care director head of compliance and care workers.
We reviewed a range of records. This included 10 people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at six staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed.
Updated
15 October 2019
About the service
Human Support Group is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of inspection, 131 people were receiving personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
We saw an improvement to medicines since the last inspection. These were managed and administered safely. Where risks were identified these were assessed and mitigated by the provider.
People told us they felt safe with the staff who supported them. However, people told us they were not always supported by a consistent staff team.
We received mixed views from people and staff about the registered manager and the service. People told us they did not always fell listened to.
Peoples needs were assessed prior to them receiving a service. We found some reviews were out of date. However, the registered manager had an action plan in place and was working through these at the time of inspection. 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.
Recruitment checks and records were robust.
People were supported by kind and caring staff who treated them with respect. People’s independence was encouraged.
People and their relatives were supported to be involved with the development of the care plans.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update. The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 16 August 2018). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 16 August 2018). We will describe what we will do about the repeat requires improvement in the follow up section below.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on our inspection schedule.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.