Background to this inspection
Updated
31 May 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 checked 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.
This comprehensive inspection took place on 27 and 29 March 2017. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service; we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be available.
The inspection was carried out by an adult social care 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 the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also reviewed notifications we received from the provider about any changes, events or incidents.
We sent questionnaires to people, relatives, staff and health and social care professionals for their views of the service. We received responses from 11 people, 11 members of staff and two community professionals. We contacted the commissioners of the local authority and health and social care professionals to gain their views of the service provided at Hartfields. We contacted the local Healthwatch group to obtain their views. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.
During the inspection we spoke with six people and two relatives by telephone. At the agency office we spoke with the registered manager, deputy manager, head of quality and compliance, two senior care workers and three care workers.
We viewed a range of records about people’s care and how the service was managed. These included the care records of five people, the records of four staff members, medicines records, training records and quality monitoring reports.
Updated
31 May 2017
Hartfields is a domiciliary care service that provides care and support to people in their own homes within the Hartfields Retirement Village site. This site is a joint venture between the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust (JRHT), Hartlepool Borough Council, Hartlepool Primary Care Trust and NorthTees and Hartlepool NHS Trust. The service provides extra care housing for people aged 55 years and over. Not everyone living at Hartfields requires support with personal care. At the time of the inspection there were 66 people using the care service.
At the last inspection, the service was rated Good.
At this inspection we found the service remained Good.
People said they felt safe and comfortable with the care workers who visited them. Staff were trained in safeguarding people and knew how to report any concerns. There were enough staff to make sure people received their allocated visits at the right times. The provider had robust recruitment and selection procedures in place so staff were thoroughly vetted before they started working for the service.
The service had made improvements to how medicines were overseen to make sure this was safe for the people who needed support with their medicines.
Staff were well-trained and supervised to provide the right care and support to people who used the service. People said they received help to manage their meals and nutrition where this was required. Staff worked with health and social care professionals to make sure people’s health was maintained.
People and relatives said care staff were caring, kind and thoughtful. They had good relationships, especially with regular care workers. People were treated with dignity and respect. They told us their privacy and confidentiality was protected and staff went the “extra mile” to help them.
People’s care records were personalised about their needs and preferences, so staff had information about how to provide individualised support in the way that people wanted it. People were given clear information about how to make a complaint. They told us any issues they had raised had been dealt with in a quick and professional way.
People and relatives felt the service was well-managed, the registered manager was approachable and the morale of staff was very good. Staff and health and social care professionals said the service was well-run, efficient and worked very well with other agencies in the community.
People were regularly asked for their feedback about the service. They said the service was very well-run and they
Further information is in the detailed findings below