Hartwig Care (Camden)

We reviewed infection control processes and procedures at the service. Overall, we were assured that these were sufficient to protect people and staff during the coronavirus pandemic. When people, relatives, or the staff identified shortfalls in infection prevention and control, the managers addressed this.

At this visit, we identified the service needed to make improvements in relation to the management of high- risk medicines. We made a recommendation about this. The service managed other aspects of medicines management well, and people received their medicines as prescribed.

The service had appropriate safeguarding procedures in place to protect people from abuse. The service recruited staff safely, and staff received safeguarding training to help them recognise different types of abuse. The service assessed risks to people's health and well-being. We highlighted to the senior management team that some risk assessments needed more personalisation to reflect specific risks for specific individuals. When an accident or incident happened, staff notified the service about it, and respective managers acted to ensure people were safe.

Overall, people and their relatives spoke positively about the care staff and the managers at the service. They thought care staff were kind and caring, and people felt comfortable in their presence. People had care plans describing their care needs and preferences. We noted that some care plans needed more information

on specific aspects of care for individual people. People and relatives told us that some staff, who did not visit people regularly, would benefit from more information about people before visiting for the first time. We fed this back to the managers at the service.

People, relatives and care staff said that overall, it was easy to contact the service when they needed support and advice.

The managers undertook a range of quality checks to ensure people were supported as agreed. We noted that the senior management team knew about most shortfalls highlighted by us during this inspection and acted on improvements.

External health and care professionals said Hartwig provided effective care to people, and when they identified issues with care, the managers acted on improvements to ensure people received safe care.