Hallifax Care Limited

Updated 18 January 2019

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.

We undertook an announced comprehensive inspection of Hallifax Care Limited. We gave 48 hours’ notice of the inspection so the registered manager had time to ask people if they would like us to visit them or telephone them. The inspection started on 12 December and was completed on 18 December 2018. We made phone calls to seven people on 12 December and met with six people in their homes on 14 December. We met the registered manager, five staff and the provider at the agency office on 18 December 2018 and reviewed care records, policies and procedures.

The inspection team consisted of two inspectors 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. The inspection was informed by feedback from questionnaires that we sent to people, staff, relatives and health and social care professionals before the inspection.

Before visiting the service, we looked at previous inspection reports and information sent to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) through notifications. Notifications are information we receive when a significant event happens, like a death or a serious injury.

We looked at information sent to us by the registered manager through the Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR contains information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

Updated 18 January 2019

The inspection took place between 12 and 18 December 2018 and was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice so that people would know we were coming and would be available to meet us and speak with us if they wanted to.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. It provides a service to mainly older adults. Hallifax Care Limited provides care and support to people living in Hollingdean, Preston Park and Patcham areas of Brighton. The service was supporting over 130 people at the time of the inspection.

Not everyone using Hallifax Care Limited receives a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

CQC previously carried out a comprehensive inspection of this service on 19 and 20 April 2016. The service was rated ‘Good’ overall and continues to provide a good service to people.

The service continued to be run by a registered manager. 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.

The provider and registered manager had worked together to continuously improve the service since the last inspection. They had continued the links they had with the local community and with professionals to make sure people had the support they needed. This had made a difference to a lot of people. They continued to be good at responding to people’s changing needs and working with them creatively to get the right support, this had enabled a lot of people to stay at home where they wanted to be.

Everyone we contacted or spoke with said positive things about the service provided by Hallifax Care Limited. Everyone was complimentary about the staff and management team. People continued to feel safe when staff were in their homes, risks and medicines continued to be well managed. Staff were subject to recruitment checks and were well trained and supervised.

Each person had a care plan detailing their support needs. People’s wishes should they become ill were recorded in their care plans. People were involved in any assessments and felt listened to and any concerns and complaints were investigated and responded to. People were supported to make choices and decisions and staff understood their responsibilities about mental capacity and consent.

There were enough staff to cover each call and staff arrived on time and stayed for the allocated time. People told us that the service was reliable. Staff liked working for Hallifax care, some working for the agency for several years. People told us that staff were very kind, respectful and caring.

Staff worked with people, relatives and other professionals to make sure people had the support they needed. There were links with the community and the local school recently hosted a party for people whom the agency supported to attend.

The service continued to be well led, the registered manager was skilled and experienced in leading the service. People were asked about their views of the service and these were acted on to improve the support people received. The registered manager met with people and observed the staff to make sure people continued to receive good support. The registered manager had notified CQC of incidents and events as required and displayed their rating as required.