Hales Group Limited - Scunthorpe

Updated 4 March 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

One inspector, an assistant inspector and an Expert by Experience carried out this inspection. 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 homes.

This service also provides care and support to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is bought or rented and is the occupant’s own home. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support service.

The service had a manager registered with the CQC. 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

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started and ended on 4 February 2020. We visited the office location on 4 February 2020.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information available to us about this service. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse. We sought feedback from the local authority. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager, the regional manager, the care coordinator, an office based senior and five care workers. We also spoke with 14 people using the service and five relatives. We visited four people in their own homes. We looked at seven people’s care records in full. We also looked at 10 people’s records in part. We looked at a selection of documentation about the management and running of the service, including recruitment information for three members of staff, staff training records and records of complaints.

After the inspection

We received further evidence from the registered manager via email to verify information they told us during the inspection. We spoke with one healthcare professional about the service.

Updated 4 March 2020

About the service

Hales group Limited – Scunthorpe is a domiciliary care service providing personal care for older people and younger adults. At the time of our inspection 120 people received support from the service.

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 using the service lived in their own homes in the community. Some people lived in an extra care site, where they lived in their own flats in one adapted building.

People’s experience of using this service

People were happy with the care being provided and praised their regular carers. When new staff started, some people did not feel they could meet their needs. The registered manager told us they would address this.

Care and support was tailored to people’s need as most staff knew people well. We made a recommendation about updating people’s holistic needs on the new electronic care planning system.

Robust recruitment processes were followed. People were actively involved in the recruitment process to ensure the right staff were being employed.

The provider had systems in place to safeguard people from abuse and staff demonstrated an awareness of safety and how to minimise risks.

People were supported with activities and interests to suit them and to aid their independence.

People were supported with their communication needs and staff demonstrated effective skills in communication. Staff had received training and support to enable them to carry out their role. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff told us the management team were approachable and they felt appreciated by their manager and the wider organisation. Staff recognition rewarded staff throughout the year.

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

The last rating for this service was good (published 25 April 2016). There was also an inspection on 13 November 2018 however, the report following that inspection was withdrawn as there was an issue with some of the information that we gathered.

Why we inspected

This is a planned re-inspection because of the issue highlighted above.

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.