We carried out a review of the data available to us about Caring Hands Solutions Ltd 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 Caring Hands Solutions Ltd, you can give feedback on this service.
Caring Hands Solutions (known as Caring Hands) is a small domiciliary care agency providing support for people in their own homes. The service was supporting nine people at the time of our inspection.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Everyone we spoke with was very positive about the care and support provided by Caring Hands. They said they felt safe with the care staff who were kind and caring and always asked what people would like them to do at each visit. Support visits were not missed, and staff stayed the full length of the call and would stay longer if needed.
The registered manager and care staff were approachable, and people felt able to raise any concerns directly with them. The registered manager had weekly contact with staff and regularly phoned or visited people to ensure they were receiving the support they wanted. Staff said they felt well supported and received the training they needed for their role. Staff were safely recruited.
Care plans and risk assessments were in place to identify the support people wanted. People and relatives were involved in agreeing and reviewing their care plans. People were supported to meet their health and nutritional needs.
Staff prompted people with their medicines. We have made a recommendation with regard to following best practice for the prompting and recording of medicines.
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. All the people being supported by Caring Hands Solutions at the time of our inspection had the capacity to make their own decisions and agree to their care and support.
The registered manager had oversight of the service through regular contact with people, their families and staff to gain feedback on the service. Care plans were reviewed every six months and annual spot checks were formally recorded with staff. Daily records were reviewed by the registered manager each month. We have made a recommendation about following best practice for the retention of care records.
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 27 April 2017).
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 place, who was also the registered provider. 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.
Caring Hands Solutions is registered to provide personal care to people in their own homes.
At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care support for four people. The registered manager completed 75% of the support visits themselves and employed one regular member of staff. The service had three bank staff available to cover any shifts as required.
All the people we spoke with, and a relative, said they felt safe supported by staff from Caring Hands Solutions. The registered manager had completed mandatory training from a recognised training provider. The registered manager had used Skills For Care and Care Certificate workbooks to train their staff member.
Spot checks were completed by the registered manager every six months to observe staff practice.
The registered manager telephoned the staff member weekly and also regularly telephoned people who used the service to check that they were happy with the service. Staff told us they felt well supported by the registered manager. Staff were introduced to the people they supported by the registered manager before they started to support them. This meant the staff had the skills, knowledge and support to provide effective care.
Caring Hands Solutions did not currently support people with their medicines. The registered manager had completed medicines training.
The service was working within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) (MCA). People currently being supported by the service had the capacity to consent to their care and support.
People and their families, where appropriate, were involved in agreeing the support to be provided by the service.
Care plans and risk assessments were in place for each person who used the service. These gave guidance to staff on how to support people and manage the identified risks. However one person was supported to access the local community. The registered manager had discussed any potential risks with the person and their family but had not formalised this into a written risk assessment. The registered manager said they would write a risk assessment to cover this. The care plans were reviewed every six months.
People’s preferences for their support, for example having a male or female staff member or a staff member who could speak Urdu or Punjabi meant people’s cultural needs were met.
A system of recruitment was in place which included all relevant checks with the Disclosure and Barring Service and obtaining two written references. However not all staff had a full employment history and an explanation of any gaps in employment recorded.
People who used the service and a relative were complimentary about the staff at Caring Hands Solutions. Staff had a clear understanding of people’s needs. People said staff always asked what tasks the person wanted them to do. Staff were flexible with the time of their support visits to accommodate people’s health appointments. Staff supported people to maintain and where appropriate, increase their independence. Staff supported people with their nutritional needs where applicable.
There was a complaints procedure in place. People told us they had not made a complaint and would talk to the registered manager directly if they needed to. A system was in place to record and review any incidents or accidents. We saw there had not been any incidents or accidents at the service.
The registered manager had invested in a Care Planning computer system for when the service grew. This would enable calls to be scheduled so they did not clash, have care plans accessible via an app on staff member’s phones and allow staff to log in when they arrived and left a call.