Protecthand Care Limited

Updated 5 January 2023

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 13 December 2022 and ended on 16 December 2022. We visited the location’s office on 15 December 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information we already held about the service. This included the last inspection report and notifications. A notification is information about important events, which the provider is required to tell us about by law. We sought feedback from health and social care professionals. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection.

During the inspection, we spoke with the registered manager, reviewed 2 people's care files, 4 staff files and a range of documents such as the provider's various policies, procedures and records related to the management of the service.

We spoke by telephone with 2 relatives and 2 staff.

Updated 5 January 2023

About the service

Protecthand Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency and is based in the London Borough of Havering. The service provides personal care to people in their own homes. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

At the time of our inspection, the service provided personal care to 6 people in their own homes.

People’s experience of using this service

People experienced good care. Relatives told us staff were kind and caring. Each person had their needs assessed and a care plan so that staff knew how to support them. Staff were checked, trained and supported to carry out their roles effectively.

Staff managed medicines well and supported people to access healthcare, when needed. They supported people with their dietary needs and ensured people received person-centred care. Staff worked well with other professionals to ensure people's needs were met. Risks to people were assessed and systems put in place to manage risks. Staff understood people's preferences, likes, dislikes and treated people with respect. They ensured people's privacy and dignity was maintained, and people were not discriminated against because of differences such as sex, sexuality, age and religion.

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.

The provider carried out audits, sought feedback, reviewed care plans and welcomed complaints. They used all this to drive continuous improvement.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was Requires Improvement (published 30 December 2021) and there were breaches of regulations.

We issued a requirement notice to the provider for breaches of Regulation 12 (safe care and treatment) and Regulation 17 (good governance).

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found some improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection and following concerns raised about the safety of the service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect