Background to this inspection
Updated
19 June 2019
The inspection:
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team:
The inspection team consisted of one adult social care inspector and one expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of domiciliary care service.
Service and service type:
Safehands Support Services is a domiciliary care service. Not everyone using Safehands Support Services receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection:
The inspection was unannounced.
Inspection site visit activity started on 24 April and ended on 26 April 2019. We visited the office location on 24 April 2019 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.
What we did:
Before the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service including notifications the registered manager was required to send us about things happening in the service, information from other stakeholders, for example local authorities, and information from members of the public.
The provider completed a Provider Information Return. Providers are required to send us key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.
During the inspection we spoke with five people using the service, four relatives of people using the service, three care workers, the registered manager, office staff and field based senior care workers. We reviewed care and medication records of four people, recruitment files of four care workers and quality assurance audits performed by the provider.
Updated
19 June 2019
About the service: Safehands Support Services UK is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to adults living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection, 150 were being supported by Safehands Support Services.
People’s experience of using this service:
People told us they felt safe and systems were in place to help protect them from the risk of abuse.
Staffing levels were adequate and management considered staffing levels to ensure they were safe when accepting new referrals to support people. People told us they could rely on the care workers to arrive on time.
People's needs were assessed by trained staff and their care records reflected the person's choices. People were encouraged to do the things they wanted and the service worked hard to allow them to do so as safely as possible.
Some care workers received additional training to enable them to demonstrate specialist equipment to other care workers to ensure they could support people safely.
People told us they were offered a choice of meals and enjoyed what the care workers cooked for them.
Where people were unwell or needed other support, referrals were made to people's GPs, district nurses and speech and language therapists (SALTs).
People spoke highly of the care workers and felt they were treated with kindness and respect. People told us how they usually saw the same care workers so had got to know each other well.
People gave us examples of how care workers had supported them to remain independent and had a positive impact on their lives.
Technology was used to help people be involved in their care. Up to date information about people's care was available on a secure online site so people could see which care workers were visiting and relatives could see that the care workers had arrived.
People were supported to participate in activities outside their homes and remain a part of the local community.
The management of the service worked hard to monitor and improve the service. People and their relatives told us they were confident in them and that someone was always available if they needed anything.
Rating at last inspection: Good, published on 22 November 2016
Why we inspected: This was a scheduled inspection based on the service’s rating at the last inspection.
Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service through information we receive and future inspections.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk