A Warrington-based homecare provider has been told improvements are required following a recent inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Domiciliary care agency Hannah’s Homecare based at Gilbert Wakefield House on Bewsey Street provides personal care to people in their own homes and at the time of the inspection there were 37 people receiving support.
During the inspection inspectors found risks to people were not always assessed and managed robustly. Although some risk assessments were in place, they were not all accurate or consistent and some risks had not been assessed for all people. Care plans were not always updated when people’s needs changed. This meant staff may not have up to date information on how to meet people’s needs safely.
Medicines were administered by trained staff; however, people did not always receive their medicines as they were prescribed. For instance, the required four hours between doses of one medicine was not always adhered to. Records regarding the administration of medicines were not always clearly and robustly maintained.
Systems were in place to monitor the service and monitor quality and safety but were not always fully effective as they did not cover all aspects of the service and did not highlight all of the issues raised during the inspection.
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; but the policies and systems in the service did not always support this practice. Records showed people signed to show their consent to planned care when able, but when mental capacity assessments were required to be completed, they were not always decision specific and best interest decisions were not clearly documented.
People and their relatives told the inspectors they felt safe with the support provided by Hannah’s Homecare. Staff were aware how to raise any safeguarding concerns and there were sufficient numbers of safely recruited staff available to meet people’s needs. People said staff arrived on time and stayed for the planned amount of time and they usually received support from the same group of staff that knew them well.
People said staff were well trained and knew their needs and how to support them. Staff were knowledgeable about actions they should take if people were unwell, and referrals were made to other professionals if there were concerns about people’s health and wellbeing. Staff said they felt well supported in their jobs and records showed they received regular training and supervision and the provider had policies in place to help guide staff practice.
Feedback regarding the service provided to people was positive and the culture of the service helped ensure good outcomes for people. People, relatives and staff told us they felt the service was well managed.
Systems were in place to gather people’s feedback regarding the service, such as surveys and a complaints
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
The last rating for this service was good (published 8 April 2019).
The latest inspection was prompted by a review of the information held about this service. A focused inspection was undertook to review the key questions of safe and well-led, and this was expanded onsite to include the key question of effective. For those key questions not inspected, inspectors used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.
Breaches were identified in relation to the management of risk and medicines at this inspection. Inspectors also made recommendations about the recording of people’s consent and governance systems.
The CQC will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. They will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress.
Hannah’s Homecare were contacted for comment.
