Archived: New Hope Care Leicester

New Hope Care Leicester is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes. The service supported 11 people at the time of our inspection. 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

People’s needs were assessed before their care packaged commenced, however people’s assessments were not holistic. The provider did not always show that any decisions made on people’s behalf was made in their best interest or that they had consulted with people’s family or relevant support network.

People were not always supported as agreed in their care plan. Staff did not always arrive at the agreed times. People were not always informed when there were any changes to their staff team. People did not always feel the service listened and acted on their concerns.

Staff did not always feel supported by their managers. The service did not always use their monitoring systems to improve the quality of care at the service.

People felt safe when they received care from New Hope Leicester. Staff were knowledgeable about what would constitute abuse to people. They knew how to keep people safe from avoidable harm and how to raise any concerns they may have regarding people’s safety.

Recruitment protocols were safe. Risk assessments promoted people’s safety in a way that did not restrict freedom or rights.

Staff supported people to meet their nutritional needs. They referred people to health care service where required.

Staff were kind and supported people in a compassionate manner. They treated people with dignity and respect.

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 15 March 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.

The service is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection10 people used the service.

The service had a registered manager. 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.

People told us they felt safe. Risks associated with people’s care were assessed and managed to protect people from harm. People could be assured that staff would arrive to provide the care that they needed.

People were supported by staff who understood their responsibilities to keep them safe and report any concerns they may have. There was a recruitment policy in place which the provider followed. We found that all the required pre-employment checks were being carried out before staff commenced work at the service.

People received their medicines as required. Medicines were administered safely by staff who were appropriately trained and competent to do so. People’s health needs were met and when necessary, outside health professionals were contacted for support. They were supported to have enough to eat and drink.

Staff had received training and supervision to meet the needs of the people who used the service. Staff told us that they felt supported. Their competence to do their role was regularly assessed.

People made decisions about the care and the support they received. People’s consent was sought and respected. The provider understood their responsibility to ensure people were supported in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

People’s independence was promoted and people were encouraged to make choices. Staff treated people with kindness and compassion. Dignity and respect for people was promoted.

The care needs of people had been assessed. Staff had a clear understanding of their role and how to support people who used the service. People contributed to the planning and reviewing of their care.

People were supported to pursue their interests and access the community. Consideration into people’s cultural and religious needs had taken.

Complaints were addressed in line with the provider’s policy. People were encouraged to give feedback about the service they received.

People and staff felt that the registered manager and provider were approachable and action would be taken to address any concerns they may have.

Systems were in place to measure the quality and care delivered so that required improvements could be identified and addressed.

The service is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection 19 people used the service.

The service was last inspected 2 February 2015 and was found to require improvement in all domains except caring which was rated as good. It was also found to be in breach of two regulations.. The registered person had not ensured the safe and effective operation of recruitment procedures and had not protected people against the risk of inappropriate or unsafe care. We checked to see if improvements had been made to meet the requirements of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. We found that sufficient improvements had been made in both areas.

The service did not have a registered manager. 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. A new manager had commenced working for the service nine weeks prior to our inspection. They informed us that they intended to apply to CQC to become the registered manager.

People told us that they felt safe in their own homes. The manager had assessed the risks associated with providing care in the home environment. Staff understood their responsibility to make checks within people’s home and of equipment to keep themselves and people safe.

Staff understood how to keep people safe and report concerns if needed. The manager had ensured that all staff had undergone relevant employment checks.

People did not receive their medicines as required and medicines were not managed safely.

Not all staff had received training to meet the needs of the people who used the service. The manager was in the process of ensuring that all staff received appropriate training and support to be able to fulfil their role.

Some people had the capacity to make decisions about their care and the support they received. These people were involved and their opinions sought and respected. Where people required support to make decisions, the service did not follow the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards DoLS), best interest decisions had not been made in line with the Act.

People were supported to maintain their health and wellbeing. People’s health needs were met and when necessary, outside health professionals were contacted for support. People were supported to have sufficient to eat and drink.

Staff respected people’s homes. People’s independence was promoted and choice making encouraged. Staff adapted their communication style so that people were supported to understand.

The manager had assessed the care needs of people using the service. Staff had a clear understanding of their role and how to support people who used the service as individuals.

Staff knew people well and treated them with kindness and compassion. People received a consistent level of support.

Staff felt supported by the manager. They were clear on their role and the expectations on them People who used the service and staff felt they could talk to the manager and had confidence that they would address issues if required. People told us that they knew how to make a complaint if they needed to. Relatives found the manager to be approachable.

The manager had implemented systems to monitor the provision of service. The provider did not have effective systems for gathering information about the service, identifying areas of concern and to drive improvement.