About the service In Home Care (Hertford) is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in their own homes. The service supported older people, people living with dementia and people with a physical disability. 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. At the time of inspection, the service was supporting 17 people in total, with 10 in receipt of personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People and their relatives felt the care provided was safe and risks were managed appropriately. This was because staff were well-trained, and systems were in place to report any concerns. Risks to people’s health, safety and well-being were assessed and measures taken to remove or reduce the risks. People were supported by a consistent staff team, who had been safely recruited.
People’s medicines were managed safely. Staff received appropriate training and had their competency assessed to help ensure they were sufficiently skilled and knowledgeable. Staff had received training in infection control practices and personal protective equipment was provided for them. Systems were in place for reporting and responding to accidents and incidents. Incidents were followed up and prompt action taken to ensure people were safe and to prevent reoccurrence.
The registered manager completed care assessments before commencing support, to ensure people’s needs could be met by In Home Care (Hertford). Care plans were sufficiently detailed and contained important information about people’s likes and dislikes. This ensured staff supported them in line with their needs and preferences. 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.
People and relatives praised the kind and caring nature of the staff team. Staff had a good understanding of the people they supported. They took the time to get to know people’s individual likes and dislikes and spoke about people with kindness and compassion. People told us they would be confident to raise any concerns with the management team.
The provider was committed to providing a high standard of care to the people they supported. People, their relatives and staff members spoke highly of the registered manager and told us that they were always available and supportive. The registered manager had a good understanding of their responsibilities towards the people they supported and had a passion for delivering person-centred care. A governance system was established, which included various audits and the monitoring of safeguarding concerns, complaints, accidents and incidences.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
This service was registered with us on 31 October 2019 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the date of registration.
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.