Archived: HICA Home Care - Grimsby

Care plans included information on how to preserve people’s dignity. One person’s relative told us how their family member felt the service had, “Given her dignity back to her. It was one of the worst things for my mum to feel as if she had lost her dignity but HICA have really gone above and beyond to address that.”

We reviewed the service’s protocol on infection prevention and control (IPC). People who used the service told us staff wore appropriate clothing when undertaking care and cleaning tasks; one person said, “Yes, they always wear disposable gloves and aprons. They take them off as soon as they have finished my personal care and put it in the special bin I have and then they always wash their hands.”

We reviewed five care plans and saw each person who received care had an individual risk assessment for medication. We saw the medication administration records (MARs) and checked their accuracy to ensure people were received their prescribed medication as directed.

We found records were kept securely and could be located promptly when needed. Computerised systems were protected with passwords and levels of access were dictated by levels of seniority within the organisation.

People we spoke with were positive about the care and support they received. They told us they were able to be as independent as possible and that their privacy and dignity was respected. Comments included “I am able to say what needs doing and this is in the care plan”, “I was asked about the start times and they were pretty good about this and then they changed the time when I asked them to” and “They are not intrusive and they don’t rush me.”

People told us that they had their needs assessed and had a care plan which had been discussed and agreed with them. They told us that the care plans were regularly reviewed and updated if necessary. One person told us “They did an assessment and care plan, we went through this and I signed it.”

We found that there were well developed computer systems in place for planning rotas. However people told us that they were not always informed if there were to be any changes to their rota such as a change of care worker or change of time.

We found there were effective recruitment and selection processes in place and appropriate checks were undertaken before staff began work. People we spoke with told us, ”The staff seem competent, even new ones, and they look at my care plan before they start to assist me.”