Helping Hands Northampton

Updated 15 December 2021

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 homes.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they 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 seven days’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. We also gave time for the registered manager to send us inspection information, so we did not have to spend an extended amount of time in the office of the service.

Inspection activity started on 8 November 2021 and ended on 11 November 2021. We visited the office of the service on 11 November 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service and we sought feedback from the local authority commissioning department. The provider sent us a 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. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection we spoke with three people who use the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with three care staff members and the registered manager. We reviewed a range of records. This included three people's care records. We looked at three staff files in relation to their recruitment and supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found, which was sent to us. This included revised quality assurance procedures and staff training information.

Updated 15 December 2021

Helping Hands Northampton is a domiciliary care agency, providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of inspection, 32 people were using the service.

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.

Enough staff were employed to meet people's needs though timely calls were not always in place to provide personal care.

Quality assurance systems were not fully in place to ensure people were provided with a quality service.

Staff training was in place but needed to be organised so that new staff have the opportunity to digest new training. Training on all people’s health conditions was not yet provided.

Staff were not always well supported with their workload and their concerns about their ability to provide a quality service to people.

People and relatives said their concerns had not always resulted in changes to ensure timely care was provided.

People and their relatives were satisfied with the personal care that staff provided.

People and relatives said safe care was provided, with people protected against abuse, neglect and discrimination.

Details of how to reduce risks to people's safety were included in people’s care plans. Care plans reflected people's individual needs and preferences.

Safe recruitment practices were in place to ensure only suitable staff worked at the service.

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 told us people were treated with respect and dignity and staff had a caring and friendly approach to them. They said they had good relationships with staff.

Staff respected people’s privacy and encouraged them to maintain their independence and do as much for themselves as they wanted to.

The registered manager understood their responsibilities and worked in an open and transparent way.

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

Why we inspected

This service was registered with us in June 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.