Background to this inspection
Updated
10 August 2021
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
The inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care. Care Quality Commission (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.
The registered manager had resigned in May 2021, the registered provider is currently recruiting a new manager to be registered with the CQC.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 21 July 2021 and ended on 26 July 2021. We visited the office location on 21 July 2021.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since their registration. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection-
We spoke with four members of staff including the director, care manager and two care workers.
We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data, quality assurance records and policy and procedures. We spoke with three people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided.
Updated
10 August 2021
About the service
Heal Angels Limited is a domiciliary care agency based in Harrow, north west London. During the day of our inspection three people received personal care from the agency.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People’s needs were assessed which ensured that their individual needs were met. People told us they felt safe when the care workers provided them with care they needed. Risks to their individual safety had been assessed and care workers had a good knowledge on how to support people to remain safe. There were enough care workers to meet the people’s needs. When things had gone wrong, lessons had been learnt to prevent the issues from re-occurring. The required checks had been made on new care workers to ensure they were of good character and safe to work within the service.
Care workers had received training and supervision to enable them to have the skills and knowledge to provide people with good quality care. Where people received assistance with eating, drinking and their healthcare needs this had been clearly documented in the care records. The service alerted other professionals and worked with them when needed to ensure people were safe and received the care they 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.
People and relatives told us care workers were kind, caring and treated them with dignity and respect. People's independence was encouraged. People were able to make decisions about their care and this was respected by the service.
The service promoted an open and person-centred culture. People, relatives and care workers told us that the manager was approachable and supportive. Systems were in place to ensure quality of care was monitored and the provider acted to make improvements when shortfalls had been identified.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection (and update) This service was registered with us on 07 May 2020 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.