Updated 18 August 2025
Care at Hand Limited is a care at home service providing support to adults of all ages, including people who may be living with dementia, have mental health needs or physical disabilities. This was the first assessment carried out under our single assessment framework.
This assessment was announced. Assessment activity started on 01 September and ended on 15 October 2025. At the start of our assessment, the service was providing the regulated activity of personal care to 10 people.
This responsive assessment was carried out as we had received concerns about aspects of the safety and management of the service. We looked at a total of 15 quality statements, all of which were in the Safe and Well Led key questions.
At our last inspection we rated the service Good (published 27 Feb 2024), however we rated the Well Led key question as Requires Improvement and found the provider was in breach of the legal regulation in relation to governance. Improvements were not found at this assessment, and the provider remained in breach of this regulation. In addition, at this assessment, we also found the provider was in breach of the legal regulation relating to safe care, staffing and the submission of statutory notifications.
The service did not have a registered manager. At the time of this assessment, the nominated individual was managing the service on a day-to-day basis, with the support of senior staff from another service where they were also registered. A nominated individual is a registered person whose name has been notified to CQC as being the person who is responsible for supervising the management of the carrying on of the regulated activity on behalf of the provider.
The provider had failed to maintain effective oversight of the service. Quality assurance processes were not being operated effectively. Audits and checks completed did not identify all of the concerns found during this assessment. Whilst some issues had been identified, the provider had failed to ensure actions were put into place to mitigate risks, make improvements and monitor progress. Feedback from the local authority assessment undertaken in July 2025 had not been acted upon.
Staff were consistently not providing timely care to people. Staff did not always arrive to care visits on time or stay for the required duration. The provider analysed completed call data but were unaware of the shortfalls in care delivery we found.
Care plans and associated risks assessments were not in place for all of people’s needs. Where measures were in place to mitigate risk, staff did not always adhere to guidance provided.
Changes to the management at the service had created instability. There was a disconnect between the provider organisation, staff and people in receipt of a service. Staff were not being supported via team meetings, supervision and spot checks and expressed concerns regarding the management arrangements.
In instances where CQC have decided to take civil or criminal enforcement action against a provider, we will publish this information on our website after any representations and/or appeals have been concluded.