Caring Hands Limited

Updated 26 September 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

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own home. 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

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection and we could speak with people. Inspection activity started on 6 September 2019 and ended on 9 September 2019. We visited the office location on 6 September 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. 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 took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. Prior to the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service since the last inspection. This included information about deaths, accidents/incidents and safeguarding alerts which they are required to send us by law. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

During the inspection we spoke with three people, two relatives, five care staff, the assessment and human resources manager, the registered manager and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We reviewed a range of records, this included the records for three people being supported and records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 26 September 2019

About the service

Caring Hands Limited is registered to provide personal care to people within their own homes. On the day of the inspection 112 people were being supported.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People were supported safely and care staff were trained to do so. Care staff were recruited appropriately and were trained to administer medicines as they were prescribed. There were sufficient care staff to support people and risks to people were being identified and reviewed. People were supported in line with infection control procedures and where incidents or accidents happened trends were monitored.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and care staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Care staff were being supported and went through an induction process, so they could support people how they wanted.

People received support that was caring, kind and delivered in a professional manner. People decided when and what they had to eat and people’s privacy, dignity and independence was promoted.

The support people received was responsive to their needs. People were communicated with in a way they would understand. Assessments and support plans were used to ensure people’s support was personalised. Reviews took place regularly so where people’s support needs changed care staff would be aware. The provider had a complaints process.

People received support that was well led and managed appropriately. The registered manager ensured the quality of the service was maintained by carrying out spot checks and audits. People shared their views by way of completing questionnaires.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (Report published 03/02/2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk