Archived: Helping Hands Southern Limited

We inspected the service in August 2013 and found that whilst the service had a recruitment policy and procedure, this was not being followed. We issued the provider a warning notice for continuing to not meeting their requirements relating to workers regulation. The provider was required to meet this regulation by the 11 October 2013.

At our inspection on the 18 October 2013 we found that there were effective recruitment and selection processes in place which meant the provider was now compliant.

At this inspection we identified that the registered persons had failed to achieve compliance with four of the five regulations that were inspected. This included requirements relating to workers.

We spoke with six of the 15 people who used the service, and one relative about the service provided by Helping Hands Southern Limited. We also spoke with four staff employed to provide care to people in their own homes.

One person who used the service told us they received a good service and staff 'always did what they were asked to do'. Another said that staff gave them 'confidence'. A third told us; 'The staff are brilliant'. However, two people who used the service told us that their care plan did not reflect the care they received. Another two people whose homes we visited also told us their care plans "were wrong".

Staff did not always have access to care plans that reflected the current needs of the people who used the service. Two out of the four people's care plans were missing from the care record folder in their homes. This made it difficult for staff to meet these people's care needs. Four people told us that lateness of calls was an issue.

The service had a safeguarding policy and records showed staff had received training in this. All the people who used the service we spoke to told us they felt 'safe'. Staff could demonstrate an understanding of safeguarding.

The service had a recruitment policy and procedure in place. However, records showed us that the procedure to check staff's suitability to work at Helping Hands Southern was not being followed.

Staff received appropriate professional development. We saw records of staff training having been provided but this was not collated and recorded to show which staff had received what training. We saw that only one of the six staff working at Helping Hands Southern Limited had received supervision since our last inspection in February 2013. The manager told us they would be introducing this with immediate effect.

Records held at both the registered address and the service's second office address were not stored in a logical way which made them hard to navigate. Records about people's care and support were not updated appropriately.

People told us they received a reliable service. Staff were said to be kind and helpful. Two people said the staff carried out whatever tasks were asked of them. People said they received the care they needed. People said care staff used aprons and gloves to prevent the spread of infection.

We saw that each person had a care plan with details of the times the person received care along with details of the support the person needed. It was not possible for us to tell if people had agreed to the contents of their care plan as these documents were not available to us. One of the people we spoke to said they had a care plan and another person said staff made a record each time they provided care.

The service had a safeguarding policy and records showed staff had received training in this. We noted the service had not followed up a complaint from a service user which indicated the service should have made a referral to the safeguarding team at the local authority.

The service had not carried out adequate checks on staff employed to provide personal care to people.

We saw records of staff training in subjects relevant to the role of carer. The manager could not confirm the moving and handling training was provided by a trainer fully qualified to train care staff in moving and handling.