Enter and View: February 2017 - St Stephen Road Project

The freehold to the property is held by The Notting Hill Housing Trust (NHHT). The agency that currently provides the service of home care to vulnerable young adults is run by Hestia Housing and Support. They provide accommodation to young people who are at a high risk of becoming homeless. Hestia has been managing the hostel for the past 9 –10 years. The premises consist of 8 self-contained rooms with toilet and hand basin and a shared bathroom. There are also 2 self-contained flats. The hostel has a communal lounge, laundry room, kitchen, I.T suite with 3 terminals and a garden.

Background for the visit:

The Health and Social Care Act allows HWH ‘Enter and View’ Authorised Representatives to observe service delivery and speak to patients, residents, staff, relatives, friends and carers. The visit can happen if people tell us there are concerns, but equally, the visits can take place when services have a good reputation. We can, therefore, learn from shared examples of what they are doing well from the perspective of the people who experience the service first hand.

‘Enter and View’ visits are not intended to specifically identify safeguarding issues. However, if safeguarding concerns arise during a visit, they are reported in accordance with the HWH Safeguarding Policy. If at any time, an Authorised Representative observes a potential safeguarding concern, they will inform their lead. The lead Authorised Representative will then end the visit. In addition, if any member of staff wishes to raise a safeguarding issue about their employer, they will be directed to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Hounslow Council’s Safeguarding Team.

On this occasion, five ‘Enter and View’ Authorised Representatives (two HWH volunteers and three HWH staff members) made the visit. The Authorised Representatives spoke to staff and 2 residents. Recommendations have been made on how to improve the service and good practice has been highlighted.

HWH had liaised with the CQC, Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and the Local Authorities (LA) to create an ‘Enter and View’ Programme. A number of health and social care providers had been selected for visiting. Commissioners had highlighted some services they said they would like HWH to visit. SSR was chosen since the contract of Hestia Housing and Support, the organisation running the service, was coming to an end.