Hadley Care

Updated 12 February 2020

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

The inspection team consisted of two inspectors.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in 12 ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

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 short notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information we had received about the service since the last 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 used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with ten people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with nine members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, lodge managers, senior care workers and care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included ten people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We spoke with two relatives by telephone. We sought feedback from three professionals who regularly visit the service but were unsuccessful.

Updated 12 February 2020

About the service

Hadley Care is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as a domiciliary care service where care and support is provided to older people who live in 12 lodges. At the time of the inspection 80 of the 82 people being supported by Hadley Care received a personal care service. 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. People understood they had the right to choose to receive care from an external agency if they wished.

The 12 lodges where Hadley Care provided a service were in various locations in the North Devon area and managed by Fremington Homes Limited. Five to ten people lived together in each lodge. Each person had their own en-suite bedroom, and there were communal areas where people could come together and socialise. The same provider owned both Hadley Care and Fremington Homes Limited, but they were run as separate organisations. People had separate tenancy agreements and all repairs and maintenance to the property were met by Fremington Homes Limited.

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

People and relatives were confident people were safe and well protected from the potential risks of abuse and avoidable harm. Staff received training to safeguard people from harm and were knowledgeable about the risks and potential signs of abuse. Safe and effective recruitment practices helped ensure staff were of good character and sufficiently experienced, skilled and qualified to meet people's needs.

People were supported to take their medicines as prescribed and other risks to their health and wellbeing were managed safely. The provider had good systems to manage safeguarding concerns, accidents and incidents and infection control.

Newly recruited staff completed a comprehensive induction programme. Staff received training in a range of subjects relevant to their roles and were well supported through supervision, appraisal and regular observations of practice. A focus on improving staff wellbeing helped them to carry out their roles confidently and effectively.

People’s relatives complimented the staff team for the care and support they provided. Staff were caring, kind and passionate about their role. They knew people well and had developed positive and meaningful relationships with them. People were respected, and their privacy and independence promoted. The registered manager was proactive in ensuring that an equality, diversity and human rights approach was firmly embedded at the service.

People received personalised care and support. Their needs and preferences were assessed, and the care provided was based on this assessment. Detailed information and guidance helped staff provide consistent care and support in a person-centred way. Care plans were reviewed regularly with people to ensure they still met their needs.

People and their relatives knew how to make a complaint, and complaints were managed in line with the providers complaints policy. There was an ethos of reflecting and learning from complaints and significant events, to identify any action needed to minimise the risk of recurrence.

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.

The management team undertook checks and audits in a wide range of key areas to help ensure a safe service was maintained. The provider routinely distributed feedback forms to people, staff members, relatives of people who used the service and health professionals to gain their opinions on the service provided.

The management team were clear about the provider's values and were proactive in ensuring these were understood and put into practice by the staff team.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection.

The last rating for this service was Good (published 22 June 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Hadley Care on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.