Halo Domiciliary Care

Halo Domiciliary Care is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection 4 people were receiving support with personal care. 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.

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

Systems and processes were in place to monitor the quality of the care provided; however, these had not always resulted in areas for improvement being identified and acted upon in a timely manner.

The manager was aware improvements were required in the service, they had met with the provider and had produced an action plan covering the areas where improvement was needed. This had been discussed with the provider and it could be seen that progress was being made.

People had suitable care plans for most of their needs. However, care plans for people who used medical devices to support their continence required more detail.

People’s risks had been assessed, however the level of detail provided in relation to people’s pressure ulcer and nutrition risks varied. The manager reviewed these assessments and ensured consistency across the service while the inspection was ongoing.

The provider needed to ensure that safe handling of medicines was consistently in place. We identified one area of concern in relation to medicines administration and the manager took immediate action to remedy this.

Although staff had received a variety of mandatory training, they required training in meeting people’s specific health care needs. The manager was aware staff required this training and made arrangements for this training to be provided while the inspection was ongoing.

Staff understood their roles and responsibilities to safeguard people from the risk of harm. Staff had good knowledge of infection prevention and control and had access to the required personal protective equipment.

People received their care calls on time and told us they were supported by consistent staff who knew them well. People were supported to have enough to eat and drink to maintain their health and well-being.

People’s health needs were recorded in their care plans, and they were supported to access relevant health and social care professionals.

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.

Complaints procedures were in place and people knew how to complain. People told us where they had complained their complaint had been fully addressed and action taken to prevent a reoccurrence.

People provided positive feedback about the manager and the staff who provided their care. People were encouraged to make decisions about how their care was provided and their privacy and dignity were protected and promoted.

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 17 March 2022, and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

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

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation about care planning for people who use medical devices to manage their continence.

Follow up

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