Haverhill Community Care

Haverhill Community Care is a domiciliary care service providing care to 105 people in their own homes. 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

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.

We found the provider to be outstandingly caring and well led.

Right Support:

The provider ensured any risks to people’s safety and welfare were assessed and mitigated effectively; medicines were managed safely, and independence promoted wherever possible. Audits in place were sufficiently robust to enable effective oversight of the service. The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensured people lead empowered lives. Staffing levels were sufficient to meet people's needs, there were no missed care calls and people knew who to expect for their care. Managers continued to recruit staff safely.

People’s care met their needs and was flexible. One relative told us, “If we require some changes in call times, all I need to do is phone the office and they will sort it out for us.” Staff followed an appropriate induction programme, and training was on-going throughout employment and as needed. Care plans included information about support required in areas such as nutrition, mobility, and personal care to help inform care provision and to ensure person centred care. Staff made appropriate referrals to other agencies and professionals when required. 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.

Right Care:

Care was person-centred and respectful and promoted people's dignity and privacy. People received exceptionally kind and compassionate care. People told us they were well cared for, and one relative said, “I would highly recommend the company and regarding their level of performance, well I would give them ten out of ten… and I don’t give out 10 out of 10 lightly."

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. People's care plans reflected their individual support needs, and this promoted and enhanced their wellbeing. Staff identified people's communication needs and addressed these.

Right Culture:

People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the provider and staff team. People received consistent care from staff who knew them well and who were responsive their individual needs.

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 (published May 2018)

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Haverhill Community Care on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

The service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 caring staff of the service knew the people receiving support very well. Without exception, people their relatives and professionals told us they were content with the support provided. People informed us they were truly respected and valued as individuals and empowered as partners in their care by an exceptional and distinctive service of caring staff. The support plans were person-centred. People informed us they were able to clearly express their views to the staff and their privacy and dignity were respected at all times.

People informed us they felt safe and comfortable when staff were in their home providing support. People were provided with a copy of the staff rota so they knew who was due to visit them. Staff knew how to recognise signs of potential abuse and understood how to report any concerns in line with the service's safeguarding policy.

The support plans had clearly written instructions of how to support the person and to keep them safe. Risk assessments relating to each person's home environment had been completed. Where concerns were identified, action had been taken to reduce the risks to people.

People were supported safely with their medicines and told us they were happy with the support they received. Staff completed medicine administration records (MAR) after giving people their medicines. The MAR were audited to ensure people had received their medicines as prescribed to promote good health.

Staff were designated to work with small numbers of people and were supported by knowledgeable senior staff.

Safe staff recruitment procedures were in operation. This helped reduce the risk of the service employing a person who may be unsuitable to work in care. Staff were provided with training, supervision and on-going support.

People were supported by a team of staff who were skilled and experienced in the assessment of and meeting people's individual needs.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

The staff supported people to make decisions and choices in their lives having ensured capacity assessments had been completed. People's rights were protected because staff acted in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

People’s support plans were written and developed with each individual. They described the support the person needed to manage their day-to-day health needs. Each person had a clear detailed assessment of their needs in their support plan. The support plan was reviewed regularly as required and at set times.

The service sought regular feedback from the people using the service. People informed us they were asked for feedback over the telephone, during visits and care plan reviews. People and their relatives felt able to raise concerns or make a complaint. They were confident their concerns would be taken seriously.

People informed us the management were approachable and they were very happy with the service. The registered manager was keen to develop and improve the service they attended local provider forums and accessed professional websites. This meant they kept up-to-date with good practice and knew what was happening in the care profession. An audit system was in place to monitor the quality of the service. Checks to observe staff's competency were carried out on a regular basis.