HK Care Consulting Limited

We inspected this service due to the length of time since the last inspection.

We assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed autistic people and people with a learning disability respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted.

People were supported by staff who knew them well and understood their individual preferences, including their likes, dislikes and the places they enjoyed visiting. Relatives spoke highly of staff and said they promoted people’s choices and independence and responded flexibly when people’s needs changed. Staff worked with health professionals when needed, and accidents and incidents were managed safely. However, staff did not always follow 1 person’s behaviour support plan. Records did not demonstrate staff had tried alternative strategies before administering sedative medicines, placing the person at potential risk of overmedication.

Relatives described staff as kind and caring, and staff took pride in their work. Staff had access to personal protective equipment and had completed training and competency assessments relevant to their roles. However, people were not always fully protected by the provider’s systems. Mental capacity assessments had either not been completed when required or were not supported by robust best-interest decision-making. The provider had also not followed safe recruitment processes consistently, which increased the risk that unsuitable staff could be employed.

Staff spoke positively about leaders, felt well supported and enjoyed working at the service. However, governance and oversight systems were not sufficiently effective. Staff supervision did not include robust discussions to identify concerns, support learning or drive continuous improvement. Audits had also failed to identify the concerns found during the inspection, including those relating to behaviour support, medicines, mental capacity and recruitment. As a result, leaders could not be assured risks were consistently identified and addressed or people always received safe, rights-based support.

We identified 3 breaches of regulation, relating to consent to care, safe care and treatment, and governance and oversight of the service. We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to concerns found at this assessment.