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Helping Hands Epsom

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

3 Eastgate, Banstead, Surrey, SM7 1RN (01737) 517441

Provided and run by:
Midshires Care Limited

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

About the service

The service is a domiciliary care agency providing care to people in their own homes. There were 60 people using the service at the time of the inspection.

 

Who the service is for

This service supports older people, people living with dementia, and people with physical disabilities who are living in their own homes.

We carried out this assessment from 6 July to 16 July 2026. This service was previously rated as good. We carried out this assessment to confirm whether the rating of good remains accurate. This report does not provide detailed information on areas where we found practice continues to meet a good standard. Instead, our findings focus on any areas where the service needs to improve or where we found exceptional practice.

We assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed autistic people and people with a learning disability respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted.

The management team had created a warm and inclusive service that clearly valued both the people it supported and staff members. Staff were supported through hardships in a variety of ways and were provided with praise and positive feedback. Staff told us they felt supported, with comments including, “The management team are approachable and supportive. Recently I have had a family issue, and they were very supportive and they regularly check in on me and provide support throughout the difficult times and given me advice and they make sure that I’m coping”, and “I have felt supported from day 1 and feel part of the team. From the day I first came into the office I have felt that the office team are very professional and polite and always give credit where it is due.”


Staff were aware of their responsibility to safeguard people from the risk of abuse and harm. Care plans and risk assessments around people’s needs were detailed yet concise. These were regularly reviewed and updated, with people and their relatives being involved in this process. Staff were safely recruited and were provided with regular training to support them with the knowledge and skills required to deliver safe care. Medicine recording and administration processes were safe. Staff were aware of the importance of gaining consent before delivering care.

Staff were proud to work for the service. One staff member told us, “It is a pleasure to work for [the service] and we feel like 'family'.” Any shortfalls in care were identified through thorough quality governance audits, with appropriate action being taken to resolve in a timely manner. Accidents, incidents and concerns were used as a learning source to improve the service going forward.

10 January 2019

During a routine inspection

This inspection took place on 10 January 2019 and was announced. This was the first inspection of Helping Hands – Epsom since they registered with us in January 2018.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to older people living in their own homes. The agency provided personal care to 21 people at the time of our inspection. This included people who were elderly, frail, or living with a diagnosis of dementia.

There was 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. The registered manager assisted us in our inspection.

People’s medicines were managed safely and people told us that staff followed good infection control procedures.

Staff understood their responsibility in relation to reporting any concerns around abuse. People told us they felt safe and we read that risks to people had been identified and recorded. Where accidents and incidents resulting in lessons learnt information was circulated provider-wide for learning.

People were cared for by a sufficient number of staff who told us they did not feel rushed and had sufficient travelling time between calls. Staff had gone through a good recruitment process which included checking the prospective staff member had no criminal offences. Staff had access to sufficient training, supervision and support to help make them competent and feel valued in their role.

People’s consent was sought and staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (2005). People’s needs were assessed prior to the care package commencing and where people needed health care services or their meals provided for them, both of these needs were met.

People told us staff were kind and caring and knew them and their needs. People said they could remain independent but staff supported them in a way that was individualised. People said staff showed them respect.

People’s care plans contained detailed information in all aspects of a person’s care and staff were able to describe people to us. People were asked for any end of life wishes they had. People received responsive care that was person-centred due to the information in the documentation.

People were provided with information about the agency upon commencement of the care package. This included information on how to contact staff out of hours and how to make a complaint.

A wide range of quality assurance monitoring took place which included provider-wide monitoring, area-wide monitoring and individual branch monitoring. People’s feedback was sought and any comments or suggestions responded to. Staff were involved in the agency and demonstrated positive, person-centred values. The registered manager worked with external agencies in respect of people’s care. Notifications were received from the registered manager in line with their requirements of registration.