Archived: The Caring Hands Also known as Miss Jessica Eastley

The inspection was announced and took place on 11 and 12 August 2016.

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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Staff were knowledgeable about the risks of abuse and understood how to respond appropriately to any safeguarding concerns. Risks to people and the environment had been assessed and identified hazards which people may face. They provided guidance for staff to manage any risk of harm.

Staff had been recruited in to their roles safely. Effective recruitment processes were in place and followed by the service and there were sufficient numbers of staff available to meet people’s care and support needs. Staff had undergone appropriate checks before commencing their employment to ensure they were safe to work with people.

People told us that their medicines were administered safely and on time in accordance with their prescription.

Staff members had induction training when joining the service, as well as regular on-going training. The service had a robust training system that was based upon the specific needs of the people receiving support, and gave staff the opportunity to continuously develop their skills in a way that was specifically relevant to the people they supported. Staff received regular supervision and support to identify areas for self-development and to ensure they remained competent to meet people’s needs in the best possible way.

People’s consent was gained before any care was provided and the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 were met.

People were happy with the support they received with food and drink. They were able to choose the food and drink they wanted and staff supported them with this. People told us that staff were able to support them with access to health appointments when necessary.

Staff supported people in a caring manner. They knew the people they were supporting well and understood their requirements for care. People's care was person-centred. Care plans had been written with people's involvement to ensure they were reflective of their needs, wishes and preferences and were reviewed on a regular basis to ensure they were accurate and up-to-date. People were able to contribute to the way in which they were supported. People told us their privacy and dignity was respected and felt that the provision of care had enabled meaningful relationships to be forged between them and staff.

People were supported to achieve goals that required planning and support from staff that knew them well. As a result of this positive outcomes were achieved for people, which made them feel empowered and part of the local community.

The service had a complaints procedure in place and people knew how to use it. Any complaints made were dealt with appropriately.

Staff were aware of their roles and responsibilities and were motivated to perform them well and meet people's needs. People and staff were positive about the leadership at the service. They felt well supported and were able to approach the registered manager and team leaders whenever they needed to. Quality monitoring systems and processes were used effectively to drive future improvement and identify where action was needed

People using the service told us they were happy with the care they received and we could see care was well planned and organised. One person said, 'It is a wonderful agency, nothing is too much for them.' During our visit to a person's own home we observed that care was delivered in line with the care plan and staff ensured the person understood their care and agreed it before it was given.

The records we looked at confirmed the staff were able to access the training necessary to deliver the care required of them, including the administration of medication. Staff told us they met together regularly and had training as part of their regular staff meetings.

The service had systems in place to review the quality of the care and support provided. One returned satisfaction questionnaire we saw stated in the section about improvements the service could make, 'If it isn't broken don't fix it.' All the comments made were very positive.

We saw that record and quality monitoring systems were established, although The Caring Hands was a small agency and had only been in operation for a short time.