Honeydew Healthcare Limited

Honeydew Healthcare Limited (Nuneaton branch) is a domiciliary care agency which is registered to provide personal care and support to people in their own homes. The service provides daytime and night-time care and support. The service is registered to provide support to the ‘whole population’ and this includes children, younger adults and older people.

The service advertises as specialising in caring for people with a learning disability, autistic spectrum disorder, complex health care condition, mental health condition, dementia or physical disability. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting two people who were receiving 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

Whilst relatives were satisfied with the care and support loved ones received, we found improvements were needed to the provider’s risk management processes and documentation. Risks were not always correctly identified, assessed or mitigated which meant staff did not always have the information to refer to if needed.

The provider’s quality checks had not always identified where improvements were needed in risk management and care plan information. They had missed opportunities to learn lessons from inspection feedback (July 2022) on their other registered location in Wiltshire.

Improvement was needed in staff recruitment to ensure staff were always recruited in a safe way. There were sufficient staff to cover agreed care calls and people were cared for in a safe way because staff knew people well. Staff received training and checks on their skills had been completed by the provider.

People received their medicines as prescribed. People had individual plans of care and staff provided personalised care and support. People were supported by consistent staff who knew people well. Staff had a caring approach toward people and were described as kind in their hands-on day to day care.

People were protected from the risks of abuse and trained staff knew how to report any concerns they might have.

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.

Right Support: Model of Care and setting that maximises people’s choice, control and independence.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did support least restrictive practices.

Right Care: Care was person-centred and did promote people’s dignity, privacy and human rights.

Right Culture: The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff did ensure people using services led confident, inclusive and empowered lives.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good and the report was published on 20 March 2018.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted in part by concerns identified through our inspection of the registered provider’s other registered location in Wiltshire.

Enforcement

We identified a breach in relation to the governance of the service.

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

Follow up

We will request a further action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

The provider was also the 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 was on a leave of absence at the time of the inspection and the service was being managed by the deputy manager and care co-ordinator; the provider was available via telephone.

People received care from staff that knew them and who were friendly, kind, caring; and passionate about providing the care and support people needed and wanted to enable them to stay in their own homes.

Staff had the skills and knowledge to provide the care and support people needed and were supported by a provider who was visible and approachable, receptive to ideas and committed to providing a high standard of care.

People’s needs were assessed prior to coming to the service and person-centred care plans were in place and were kept under review. Risks to people had been identified and measures put in place to mitigate any risk. Care records contained detailed information to assist staff to provide care and support in an individualised manner that respected each person's individual requirements and promoted treating people with dignity.

Staffing levels ensured that people received the support they required safely and at the times they needed. The recruitment practice protected people from being cared for by staff that were unsuitable to work in their home.

Staff understood the need to protect people from harm and knew what action they should take if they had any concerns. Relatives told us that they felt their loved one was cared for safely in their own home. Staff understood their role in caring for people with limited or no capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The provider was closely involved in the day-to-day running of the service and continually monitored the quality of the service provided. Staff and relatives were confident that issues would be addressed and that any concerns they had would be listened to and acted on.