We carried out a review of the data available to us about Kind Hearts Care & Support Limited on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Kind Hearts Care & Support Limited, you can give feedback on this service.
Kind Hearts Care and Support Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes. The service provides support to people living with dementia, older and younger adults, people with learning disabilities and autism and people with physical disabilities. At the time of our inspection there were 17 people using the service.
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.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.
At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.
Right support
The provider had made improvements to the systems in place to manage medicines and assess and monitor identified risks to people. People were supported by staff who recognised and reported on the risk of abuse. People were supported by enough staff who were safely recruited to work in the service. The provider had effective infection prevention and control systems in place.
Right care
People’s needs were assessed and delivered in line with their choices. People were supported by staff who were trained to meet their needs. People were supported to eat, and drink where required. Staff worked with other health and social care agencies to ensure people received consistent and timely care and support to access to healthcare services.
At the time of the inspection no one receiving care lacked capacity to make decision on aspects of their care. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives.
Right culture
The provider had updated their governance systems to ensure they identified areas to make improvements to people’s care. The registered manager and staff shared a positive culture which was person-centred and ensured good outcomes for people receiving care. The registered manager understood their obligation under the duty of candour. People, their relatives and staff were involved and engaged in the service. The provider continued to learn to improve people’s care. The provider worked in partnership with others and lessons were learnt when things went wrong.
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
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 25 January 2020). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
At our last inspection we recommended that the provider had a robust system in place around staff training. At this inspection we found the provider had made improvements and staff received training to meet people’s needs. Clear records were kept of training staff completed and when courses were due for an update.
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service and to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service from 4 December 2019 to 9 December 2019. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment and good governance.
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Effective and Well-led which contain those requirements.
For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Kind Hearts Care and Support on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.
Kind Hearts Care and Support Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to 38 people at the time of the inspection. The service is registered to support people with a range of needs. These include people living with dementia and physical disabilities.
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.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People’s medicines were not managed in a safe way. There was no guidance in place for staff to follow when people had prescribed medicines to be taken when required. Risks to people were not always assessed and planned for. The provider did not have suitable systems of oversight in place to monitor, assess and improve the quality and safety of the service.
Staff told us they received training and people were happy with the way they were supported. However, not all staff had received all elements of training. We have made a recommendation about staff training.
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 did not support this practice.
There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and despite what we found people told us they felt safe. Systems were in place to safeguard people from the risk of potential abuse and people were protected from the risk of cross infection as staff knew when to wear personal protective equipment.
Where people received support to eat and drink, people were happy with this support. People had access to healthcare and their needs and choices were assessed.
People were supported by caring staff who knew them well and supported them to express their views and be involved in making decisions about their care. People had their independence promoted and privacy respected.
The provider was not currently supporting anybody at the end of their life but had worked in partnership in the past with the local hospice. People received personalised support to meet their needs. People had their communication needs met and felt able to complain.
The registered manager was aware of their duty of candour and staff told us management were approachable.
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 27 July 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Enforcement
We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment and good governance at this inspection.
Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
Follow up
We will request an action plan for the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
We inspected this service on 30 June 2017 and the inspection was announced. This meant the provider and staff knew we would be visiting the agency’s office before we arrived. This was the first inspection undertaken at this office address since its registration on 20 March 2017.
Kind Hearts Care & Support Limited provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes in Lichfield, Burton upon Trent and surrounding areas. At the time of our visit 34 people were in receipt of personal care.
The service had a registered manager 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.
People were protected from the risk of harm by staff that understood their role in reporting concerns. Checks on staff were done before they started work to ensure they were suitable to support people. Medicines were managed safely and people were supported to take their medicine when needed.
People’s care was planned to meet their needs and minimise risks to their safety.
People received their calls as agreed and from a consistent staff team. People were cared for by staff that received ongoing training to improve their knowledge and enhance their skills. When needed, people were supported to maintain their dietary requirements and preferences and to access healthcare services.
Staff understood the importance of gaining consent from people and supporting them to have maximum choice and control of their lives. People were asked about their likes and dislikes to ensure care was provided in their preferred way.
People’s care was regularly reviewed to ensure their care remained appropriate for them. People felt able to discuss any concerns or complaints with staff and the provider because they found them approachable. People were given opportunities to comment on the care they received and be involved with plans for the future. There were audits in place to monitor the quality of the service to drive improvements in care.
Further information is in the detailed findings below.