Background to this inspection
Updated
5 October 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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection was undertaken by an inspector, an assistant inspector, and an Expert by Experience who undertook telephone calls to people and relatives. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The expert’s area of expertise was older people and dementia.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.
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
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit. This was to enable us to make arrangements to speak with people and their relatives and to be sure the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 10 September 2019 when we visited the office location. Telephone calls were undertaken with people and their relatives on 10 and 11 September 2019.
What we did before the inspection.
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection-
We spoke with five people and 12 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five care staff, the registered manager, operations manager, area manager, and regional director.
We reviewed a range of documents and records including the care and medicines records for four people, three staff files and training records. We also looked at records that related to the management and quality assurance of the service.
Updated
5 October 2019
About the service
Helping Hands is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service supported 43 people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People told us they felt safe when being supported by staff in their homes. Relatives had no concerns about the safety of their loved ones. People and their relatives confirmed staff arrived on time or called them if they were running late. People were supported by a consistent core group of staff. Staff knew how to escalate concerns and were aware of any potential risks when providing support. People received their medicines when they needed them. Staff wore gloves and aprons to ensure they protected people from cross infection.
Staff felt supported and had the training they needed to meet people’s needs. People were assessed before they used the service to ensure their needs could be met. People, were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
People and relatives made positive comments about the staff that supported them. People told us the staff encouraged them to be independent, protected their privacy and treated them with dignity and respect.
People and their relatives were involved in the way the service was provided and, in the development, and review of their care plan. A complaints procedure was in place and people and their relatives knew how to raise concerns and felt confident these would be addressed. Systems were in place to ensure any communication needs people had were identified and information provided in a format that met individual’s needs.
People, relatives and staff thought the service was managed well. The registered manager was described as approachable, open and transparent in the way they managed the service. Systems were in place to monitor the delivery of the service.
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published 9 December 2016).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk