New Hope Care Ltd received an overall rating of Requires Improvement following a focused inspection of the safe and well-led key questions, with breaches of Regulation 12 (safe care and treatment) and Regulation 17 (good governance) identified relating to unsafe medicines management, inadequate risk assessments, and ineffective auditing systems. Strengths included a consistent and caring staff team, no missed calls, and an open and transparent management culture committed to improvement.
Concerns (8)
criticalMedication management: “when we checked the physical stock balance of medicines these did not correspond with what had been administered. Records did not show what the current stock balance should be.”
criticalCare planning: “Risk assessments and care plans were not always in place to guide staff on how to support people with their medical needs. This included a lack of guidance on the support people needed with epilepsy and diabetes.”
criticalGovernance: “medicine audits did not identify the shortfalls we found in relation to the safe management of peoples medicines.”
moderateRecord keeping: “Audits of care records and risk assessments did not identify they were not always reflective of people's current needs or person centred to guide staff.”
moderateIncident learning: “not all accident and incidents records were reviewed by the senior management team to review the details and to assess if any further action was required to reduce known risks.”
moderateStaff training: “some staff had not received training in relation to some of the medical conditions of the people they supported. This included, epilepsy, diabetes, and catheter care.”
moderateStaffing levels: “The guidance in place for staff to follow in the event of a fire did not consider the reduced staffing levels at night or people's individual support needs.”
moderatePerson-centred care: “the provider could not evidence how people were supported to understand their right to choose a different provider without this affecting their tenancy.”
Strengths
· People were supported by a consistent staff team who knew them well and understood their needs.
· Staff had a good understanding of safeguarding and knew how to report concerns.
· Staff promoted equality and diversity and understood people's cultural needs.
· People and relatives spoke positively about the care manager and operations manager, describing them as approachable and responsive.
· No missed or late calls were found at this inspection, an improvement from the previous inspection.