Home Office

Ratings

• Overall

  Inadequate

• Safe

  Inadequate

• Effective

  Requires improvement

• Caring

  Requires improvement

• Responsive

  Requires improvement

• Well-led

  Inadequate

Our view of the service

Date of inspection: 23rd January 2026.

Home Office (Julie’s Home Help Ltd) provides care and support to adults living in their own home. We undertook this inspection because this is a new service which had not received a quality rating. At the time of our inspection, there were 2 people receiving a regulated activity. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. We identified multiple shortfalls across a range of areas that are essential to ensure the safe delivery of care. We were not assured staff consistently had the information they needed to provide safe, effective, and person‑centred care.

Care plans were brief and lacked sufficient detail about people’s individual needs. There was limited evidence that risk assessments had been completed or that people’s care needs were routinely monitored and reviewed.

We could not be assured that staff had completed all mandatory training necessary to meet people’s assessed needs safely. Recruitment processes were not safe, and staff did not receive regular supervision or support.

Staff generally spoke positively about the service and told us they felt the registered manager was approachable and supportive. They were confident that if they raised any concerns, they would be addressed proactively.

During this inspection we identified four breaches of the legal regulations relating to consent, safe care and treatment, governance and staffing.

During the course of the inspection, we received a notification of an incident following which a person using the service sustained an injury. This incident is subject to further investigation by CQC as to whether any regulatory action should be taken. As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident.

This was the provider’s first inspection, and throughout the process they were open, receptive, and demonstrated a clear commitment to learning and improving the service. They responded promptly to our feedback.

This service is being placed in special measures. The purpose of special measures is to ensure that services providing inadequate care make significant improvements. Special measures provide a framework within which we use our enforcement powers in response to inadequate care and provide a timeframe within which providers must improve the quality of the care they provide.

People's experience of this service

People who used the service and their relatives spoke positively about the service overall. They told us that they received consistent, good care from regular care staff who knew them well. People told us staff had a caring approach, and they felt staff were competent and knowledgeable in meeting their needs. One person told us, “The staff are nice and look after me well”. One relative told us, “[Registered manager] keeps us informed with everything, they are very good at messaging”.

Although people’s feedback was positive, we could not be assured that people would have a consistently good experience, because they were not supported by staff who were appropriately vetted, trained and equipped with the information they needed.