Helping Hands Watford

Updated 31 December 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 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 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 a short period notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used all of this information to plan our inspection. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection

This inspection was carried out between 02 December 2019 and 16 December 2019. We visited the office on 12 December 2019 to review records. We spoke with two people who used the service and two of their relatives to understand their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the registered manager, a second manager supporting the service and four staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and medication records and a variety of records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

The registered manager sent us further evidence on 12 December 2019 to support their overall rating. This was in relation to ongoing service development and governance.

Updated 31 December 2019

Helping Hands - Watford is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people in their own homes. It provides a service to older people. At the time of inspection, the service was providing personal care to six people.

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 felt safe. One person said, “I feel tremendously safe with these carers, they are very good at caring for me.” Risks associated with care and the environment were identified and safely managed. There were enough staff to meet people's needs consistently. Staff protected people from avoidable harm, were knowledgeable about safeguarding and felt able to report their concerns. Systems were in place to recruit staff safely. Staff administered people’s medicines when required and these were safely managed.

Staff received training in key areas, and plans were in place to source further training for staff. Staff received support to enable them to carry out their roles effectively. New staff received an induction and shadowed the management team as part of this. Systems were in place to ensure information to support people was shared and discussed appropriately with health professionals, where necessary.

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. Consent to care was sought and staff understood people's rights to make their own decisions.

People told us staff were kind and caring. People had built meaningful relationships with staff and felt they were listened to. Staff were aware of the importance of promoting people’s dignity and maintaining their privacy.

People's needs were assessed before they began to use the service and care plans were developed from this information. People felt the service responded to their needs in a way that met their preferences. A system was in place for responding to people's concerns and complaints. People felt confident to raise any concerns. No person required end of life care at the time of inspection, however training was planned to be provided to staff in case people needed this support .

People, their relatives and staff felt the service was well led. Quality assurance systems identified where the service needed to improve and ensured the service was safely managed. Improvements around training, and rostering people’s care calls were known and being reviewed. The registered manager was responsive to any issues raised during the inspection and demonstrated a passion and enthusiasm for driving improvements where identified.

You can read the report from this comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Helping Hands Watford on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Rating at last inspection and update:

This service was registered with us on 30 November 2018 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the service’s registration date.

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.