Valley Care - Hull & East Riding

Updated 4 February 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 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.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and 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

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection

We spoke with 9 people who use the service and 3 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the registered manager and nominated individual.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 5 care and medication records. We looked at other records relating to the management of the service including recruitment, staff training and supervision, and systems

for monitoring quality.

Following the inspection, we received feedback from a further 6 staff members. We contacted two healthcare professionals by email but did not receive a reply. We looked at a range of documents sent to us such as audits, care records, medicine records and training information.

Updated 4 February 2023

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

About the service

Valley Care Hull & East Riding is a domiciliary care agency that supports people to live in their own homes. The agency provides home care services within Hull and East Riding to people who may be living with dementia, a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder, a physical disability, sensory impairment or mental health needs.

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

Right Support:

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.

Medicines management was in line with best practice guidance; medicine administration records were fully completed and guidance for staff was in place.

Risks to people had been assessed. People accessed specialist health and social care support where appropriate. People told us they felt safe when receiving support from staff. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

Right Care:

People told us staff arrived on time and they received support from the same good group of staff, which promoted good continuity of care. People's needs were assessed prior to the commencement of the service. The assessment included people's health, physical, emotional and communication needs. Care plans had been reviewed regularly to ensure they were accurate.

People received care from staff who were caring and had a good relationship with them. Staff respected people's privacy and dignity. People were encouraged to be independent and to carry out tasks without support.

People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs. Documents were printed in different formats dependent on people’s needs.

Right Culture:

The provider had recruitment processes in place to ensure suitable staff were employed.

Systems were in place to manage complaints and people's communication needs were met.

Systems to monitor the quality and safety of the service were in place. Staff reported having a positive relationship with the provider and felt communication was effective. Quality monitoring systems allowed for the effective monitoring of the service by the provider, however action plans were not always implemented. We have made a recommendation about this.

The provider had an ambition to be innovative and put people at the centre of the service delivery. They welcomed any form of external and internal auditing and feedback received was treated as an opportunity to reflect and further improve the quality of the service for people. The registered manager was very experienced and aware of their legal responsibilities. They were committed to the continuous improvement of the service.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 17 November 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.

Follow up

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