Background to this inspection
Updated
22 August 2018
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that managers and staff would be available. The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector.
Prior to the inspection we reviewed the Provider Information Record (PIR) and previous inspection reports. The PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also reviewed the information we held about the service and notifications we had received. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law.
Inspection site visit activity started on 14 June 2018 when we visited the office location to see the registered manager and to review care records and policies and procedures. Our inspection ended on 4 July 2018 with phone calls to people using the service and/or their representatives.
We spoke with the registered manager, five enablers and four healthcare staff. We also reviewed the care records of three people using the service and staff recruitment and training records for three enablers working for the service.
Following the site visit we spoke with five people using the service and one relative by telephone. We also received completed CQC surveys from 10 people using the service and 23 staff.
Updated
22 August 2018
Hollyfield House Domiciliary Care Agency provides a reablement service to people leaving hospital. The service also accepts referrals from the community via local authority and health care colleagues to facilitate hospital admission avoidance. This provides people with personal care and support for up to six weeks in their own home after discharge from hospital. The service is co-located and worked closely with the provider’s occupational therapy, rapid response and district nursing teams.
A registered manager was in post. 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.
At our last inspection in November 2015 we rated the service Good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of Good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and on-going monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.
The staff providing care for Hollyfield House Domiciliary Care Agency are called ‘enablers’ and we use this term throughout this report.
People’s feedback about the effectiveness of the service consistently described it as outstanding. Staff, teams and services were committed to working collaboratively and had found effective ways to deliver joined-up care and support to people in their own homes. The reablement service was co-located with other healthcare teams and worked well in partnership with them and the local authority to respond effectively to the changing needs of local people. People using the service were helped to regain their independence wherever possible and they told us enablers supported them to achieve this.
People and their relatives said enablers were kind, caring and respectful. They praised the exceptional skills of staff who supported them. They spoke about the high quality of care provided and had no hesitation in recommending the service to others.
Enablers were motivated, enthusiastic and were proud to work for the service. A robust recruitment process was in place to make sure people were cared for by suitable staff members.
Risks associated with people’s support were monitored and managed well. People had risk assessments in place so enablers were made aware of any hazards that could affect the delivery of safe care. Up to date care records supported enablers to meet people’s needs and preferences.
People received their medicines safely and on time from staff who were trained to manage medicines safely.
People were protected from abuse because enablers received training in safeguarding, so knew what action to take if they were concerned about someone being abused, mistreated or neglected.
People were asked for their consent and enablers acted in accordance with their wishes. Any complaints, concerns and feedback were taken seriously and used as an opportunity to improve the service.
Enablers were supported well by their colleagues and their managers. They told us they could ask for advice and were able to express their views and opinions.