We carried out a review of the data available to us about Home Help Watford on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Home Help Watford, you can give feedback on this service.
Home Help Watford is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes and flats. At the time of our inspection the service was providing care and support to 22 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 told us that they felt safe and were supported by consistent, reliable staff. Staff understood their responsibilities with regards to safeguarding people and they had received effective training. There were systems in place to safeguard people from the risk of possible harm. The service had robust recruitment procedures in place.
People’s needs had been assessed and they had been involved in planning their care and deciding in which way their care was provided. Each person had a detailed care plan which was reflective of their needs and had been reviewed at regular intervals. Staff were knowledgeable about the people that they were supporting and provided personalised care. Assessments and care plans we looked at during the inspection reflected the detailed knowledge that staff had of the people they supported.
Medicines were being managed well and staff followed good infection control practices.
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.
There was a positive culture of person-centred, quality care throughout the organisation. Staff told us they enjoyed working at the service and that they were well supported by the management team. Staff felt valued, motivated and were committed to the people they were supporting.
There was positive leadership at the service and people and staff spoke highly of the provider. Senior staff were dedicated to maintaining high standards and there were robust quality assurance systems in place.
People told us they were comfortable in contacting the office and felt listened to. No formal complaints had been raised at the service; however, there was a procedure in place should any concerns be raised.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was Good (published 17 January 2017). Since this rating was awarded the location has changed its name. We have used the previous rating to inform our planning and decisions about the rating at this inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
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.
The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
There were systems in place to keep people safe from harm. People we spoke with felt that that staff knew how to keep them safe. The provider had undertaken risk assessments which were regularly reviewed to minimise potential harm to people using the service. There were appropriate numbers of staff employed to meet people’s needs and provide a safe and effective service. However, some people felt that staff were sometimes late attending their visits because of traffic.
Staff we spoke with were aware of people’s needs, and provided people with person centred care, however, some staff for whom English was not their first language had some difficulty understanding information.
Peoples care records were regularly updated to reflect changes to their circumstances and the provider kept abreast of those changes to ensure that any further support people may require was acted on. People were supported and encouraged to eat and drink well and where required the service supported people to make appointments with or attend health care services.
People confirmed that their privacy and dignity was respected by staff and that they were encouraged to so as much as possible for themselves in order for them to retain their independence and life skills. People were supported to make decisions for themselves. Where people were not able to make decisions for themselves, the provider had a system in place to ensure that, best interest decisions were made on their behalf which involved advocates and other professionals; this was recorded in peoples care plans.
The provider had a recruitment process in place which ensured that staff were qualified and suitable to work in people’s homes. Staff had undertaken appropriate training and had received regular supervision and an annual appraisal, which enabled them to meet people’s needs. Medicines were administered safely by staff who had received training.
The provider had a system in place to ensure that complaints were recorded and responded to in a timely manner as well as an effective system to monitor the quality of the service they provided.
Helping Hands Watford provides care and support to people living in their own home. At the time of our inspection 26 people were being supported by at Helping Hands Watford.
The inspection took place on 9, 11 and 16 November 2015. This inspection was announced. We previously inspected Helping Hands Watford in September 2014 and found they were not meeting the standards in relation to safeguarding people and staffing. During this inspection we found they had not made the required improvements and were still not meeting the required standards.
At this inspection we found the service to be in breach of regulations 17, and 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.
The service had a registered manager in post who was also the provider. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
People told us they did not always feel safe receiving a service from Helping Hands Watford. Staff were not always aware of how to keep people safe and risks to people’s safety and well-being were not always identified and managed. People’s care records were not always updated to reflect the change in their needs. There were sufficient numbers of staff deployed to support people. People kept their medicines in their own homes and were prompted and or supported by staff to take them. However, the support with medicines was not always managed and recorded appropriately.
People were not routinely asked for their permission before staff assisted them with care or support. Staff received intermittent supervision from management which helped them to feel supported and valued. They told us they felt able to seek assistance when they needed to. People received support to eat and drink regularly. People were assisted to access healthcare appointments as needed.
People’s privacy and dignity was not always respected and promoted. People told us they were mostly treated with kindness and compassion by staff but a lack of continuity impacted on the ability to develop meaningful relationships with care staff.
People’s care records were not always regularly updated to provide a detailed account of their needs and care. People told us they did not always feel confident to raise anything that concerned them with staff or management, as the issues were not addressed and resolved. Arrangements were in place to obtain feedback from people who used the service; however this work was incomplete and had not been evaluated to put actions in place to improve the quality of the service.