Hatherlow House

Updated 2 July 2019

The inspection:

We carried out our inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. Our inspection checked whether the provider was 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.

Inspection team:

The inspection was completed by one inspector.

Service and service type:

Hatherlow House provides personal care assistance and support for older people who live in their own apartments.

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.

Notice of inspection:

48 hours' notice of the inspection was given to ensure people who accessed the service, staff and visitors were available to talk with us.

What we did:

Our inspection plan took into account information that the provider had sent to us. We also considered information about incidents the provider must notify us about. We obtained information from the local authority commissioners and members of the public.

Due to technical problems, CQC had not sent a recent request for the provider to complete the Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us to give us some key information about the service, what it does well and what improvements it plans to make. However, we were able to find the information we needed in the last PIR submitted.

We spoke with nine people who used the service. We also spoke to five relatives to give us a greater understanding of people's experiences of care and support at Hatherlow House.

We spoke with the registered manager, two care staff, the chaplain, and a visiting professional. We reviewed three people's care records, staff personnel files, audits and other records about the management of the service.

We also undertook general observations of the service throughout the day.

Updated 2 July 2019

About the service:

Hatherlow House provides personal care assistance for people who live in their own apartments situated within a purpose built three-story building. Staff provided care packages and were onsite 24 hours-a-day to maintain people's safety and welfare. At the time of our inspection, Hatherlow House was supporting 21 people with personal care and support.

People's experience of using this service:

People told us they considered Hatherlow House as a safe and comfortable place to live. People told us they had confidence in the staff who took care of them.

People received care from staff who had been supported in their role with appropriate training and supervision. Staff were caring and passionate about their role and knew people's needs, routines and preferences well.

Regular checks and audits were carried out to determine the quality and safety of the environment and the care being provided.

Risk to people was assessed appropriately, and measures put in place to support people safely. The service encouraged people to remain as independent as possible.

Most people living at Hatherlow House accessed the community independently. People were also offered a range of activities at the service which were provided both on a one to one basis and in group form. This helped ensure people participated in activities which were meaningful to them.

A regular chaplaincy service was offered onsite. Although Hatherlow House was run by Methodist Homes for the Aged, it welcomed and respected people of alternative faiths.

Feedback was sought from people, their relatives and staff to ensure standards were being maintained and to help drive forward improvements.

The registered manager and registered provider had met their legal requirements with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). They promoted a person centred, transparent culture and ‘homely’ atmosphere within the service.

Rating at last inspection:

At our last inspection, the service was rated "Good." (Report published October 2016).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating of the last inspection. The rating for this service remained ''Good'' overall.

Follow up:

This inspection was part of our scheduled plan of inspecting services to check the safety and quality of care people received.

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.