This inspection took place on 31October 2016 and was announced. The previous inspection took place on 18 February 2014 and we found that the registered provider met the requirements that were in place at that time.

HCF The Springs is a domiciliary care agency that is registered to provide the regulated activity personal care. This includes support with activities such as washing and dressing, the provision of meals and the administration of medication for people living in their own home. On the day of the inspection one person was receiving support from the agency every day over a 24 hour period, and another person was receiving support on an occasional basis. The agency office is in Hemsworth, close to the town of Pontefract, in West Yorkshire. There is easy access into the premises and parking is available for people who wish to visit the agency office.

The registered provider is required to have a registered manager in post and on the day of the inspection there was a manager who was registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). 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.

Services that provide health and social care to people are required to inform the CQC of important events that happen in the service in the form of a 'notification'. Some notifications had not been submitted to CQC by the registered provider. This meant that we were not able to determine whether appropriate action had been taken following any accidents or incidents. We have made a recommendation about this shortfall.

We found that staff were suitable for the role for which they had been employed although more care needed to be taken to adhere to the agency’s recruitment policies and procedures. We saw there were sufficient numbers of staff employed to meet people’s individual needs.

We found that people were protected from the risk of harm or abuse because the registered provider had effective systems in place to manage any safeguarding issues. Staff received training on safeguarding adults from abuse at the time of their induction and then as refresher training, and understood their responsibilities in respect of protecting people from the risk of harm.

Staff confirmed they received induction training when they were new in post and told us that they were happy with the training provided for them. The training records showed that all staff had completed induction training and the training that was considered to be essential by the agency.

People received the right medication at the right time, and records of the administration of medication were satisfactory.

People’s nutritional needs were assessed and special diets were catered for. People were supported to access appropriate health care services to monitor and improve their well-being. Any accidents and incidents were recorded thoroughly.

It was apparent that care workers genuinely cared about the people they supported. The feedback we received confirmed that the person who received regular support had positive relationships with care workers and the registered manager. It was clear that care workers and the registered manager knew this person’s physical and emotional care and support needs very well.

There was a complaints policy and procedure and this had been made available to the person who received a service and their relatives. At the time of this inspection, no complaints had been received by the agency. There were systems in place to seek feedback from people who received a service and we saw that this feedback was positive.

We received positive feedback about the management of the service from everyone who we spoke with.

HCF The Springs is a small service providing personal care. We spoke with the people who were supported by the service, their relatives and the staff who support them.

People we spoke with were happy with the support they received and were involved in planning their care. We looked at care records and saw people’s needs were clearly outlined.

People and their relatives knew how to complain, if they were not happy with the service. We found there had been no complaints since the last inspection.

Due to the nature of the people who used the service conditions we were unable to ask them about thier experiences directly.

However we spoke to relatives and staff, inspected records and observed interaction between people.

We found that overall people received a safe service that was person centred. However the provider needs to ensure that people have a comprehensive set of risk assessments that are fully documented to mitigate any potential risks to people who use the service.

Satisfaction surveys show that service users and their relatives feel they are involved and have a say in the assessment, care planning and reviewing process.

They also show people and their relatives are informed of any changes to the way the service is delivered. The surveys also show people are happy with the support and personal care given.

Satisfaction surveys show people and their relatives feel their rights are upheld and they are treated with dignity and their wishes are respected.

They also show people know how to make a complaint but have never had to do this.

Satisfaction surveys show people and their relatives are happy with the support and care given.

Satisfaction surveys show people and their relatives’ feel they can discuss personal matters with care staff and that their confidences are kept. They also show that people feel what they say is listened to and acted upon.

Satisfaction surveys show people feel they are sufficiently involved in reviewing their care and support needs. They also show people feel confident that they can contact the organisation at anytime and are also happy with the responses when they have had to do this. Surveys show that people using the service and their relatives are overall very happy with the overall impressions of the organisation.