Helping Hands Wimbledon

Updated 6 October 2025

Date of Assessment: 8 to 10 October 2025.

Helping Hands Wimbledon is a home care agency. The service provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of this inspection, 45 older people were using the service including, 4 people who received home care and support from live-in staff. The home care agency is currently supporting 12 people living with dementia.

We undertook this inspection to check the provider had improved and followed the recommendations we made at their last inspection. Previous issues included the coordination of staff visits/shifts and how staff communicated with people.

This inspection was conducted by 2 adult social care inspectors and was announced. We gave the provider short notice of our onsite visit because we needed to be sure the manager would be available to support the inspection. We reviewed 15 quality statements in relation to the 2 key questions, Is the service safe and well-led? For all the other key questions which were not reviewed as part of this inspection we used the ratings awarded at their last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

The service was rated requires improvement at their last inspection [published 23 November 2023]. Based on the findings of this inspection the services overall rating has now changed from requires improvement to good. This is because we found the service had improved how they now managed staff call visits and shifts. We also found an improvement on communication between people receiving a home care service and the office-based managers and staff.

The service had experienced high levels of management turnover in recent years and remained without a registered manager. However, a suitably experienced manager had now been appointed, and they had applied to be the registered manager.

The service had a good learning culture and people could raise concerns. Managers investigated incidents thoroughly. Staff understood and managed risks well. Staff had the right skills, knowledge, and experience and received regular and relevant training and supervision. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities. The service detected and controlled potential risks in people’s home environment. Staff managed medicines safely.

The service fostered a positive culture where people knew they could speak up and have their voices heard. Staff felt supported to give their feedback and were treated fairly. Managers and staff had shared values based on listening, learning and trust. Managers were knowledgeable and supportive, helping staff develop in their roles. Managers and staff understood their roles and responsibilities. The team worked well with external health and social care professionals and bodies to deliver the best possible care and support. There was a culture of continuous learning and improvement, and people could raise concerns without fear. Managers investigated and reported incidents thoroughly.

Updated 6 October 2025

During this inspection, we received telephone or email feedback from a person using the service and 2 relatives. We also received in-person and email feedback from various leaders and staff who worked for this provider including, the branches new manager, an area care manager, a quality development manager, a care coordinator, and 2 care staff.

People were positive about the quality and safety of the care and treatment they or their relative received from this provider. One person told us, “The quality of the service I receive has improved a lot since the new managers started. This includes the way my carers call visits are coordinated and communication I have with my regular carers and the office-based staff. I am happy with the service I receive from Helping Hands.” A relative added, “Helping Hands [Wimbledon] provides amazing care and support to my [family member]. His regular carers are very caring, attentive, thoughtful, and they work hard to make sure he is kept safe and remains well.”

People’s safety was prioritised, and managers and staff knew how to protect people from abuse or harm. People received continuity of care from the same group of staff who were familiar with their personal and health care needs, preferences, and daily routines. People said they received consistently safe care from competent staff who were well-supported by the office-based managers, nursing, and administrative staff. People described feeling safe with their regular carers who treated them with kindness and compassion. People felt able to complain when they needed to and without fear and were confident, they would be listened to and appropriate action taken to alleviate their concerns. People said the service was well-led by the office-based managers and staff.