Helping Hands Hertford

Helping Hands Hertford is a domiciliary care agency and registered to provide personal care to older people in their own homes.

Not everyone using Helping Hands Hertford receives a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care' which 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 this inspection 14 people were receiving personal care.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found.

The management team had not always taken appropriate actions following incidents. Learning and sharing best practice from incidents needed embedding with staff.

Risks to people’s health, safety and well-being were identified but not always assessed to manage these risks.

Staff received training and support to enable them to carry out their roles. However, further higher level training was required in areas such as dementia.

Regular checks and audits of the quality and safety of care had not been effectively carried out to identify the required improvements found at this inspection.

People were safe and protected from avoidable harm because staff knew how to identify and report any concerns relating to the risk of abuse. Staff were knowledgeable about people’s changing needs and how to support these. People were supported by staff who were recruited following a robust process. People’s medicines were managed safely. Staff had received training in infection control practices and personal protective equipment such as gloves and aprons were provided for them.

Before care started assessments were completed to make sure people`s needs could be met. People's dietary needs and requirements were identified in their care plans and staff had a good understanding of how to support people with these.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff and the management team knew people well and they sought professional advice appropriately as people’s needs changed. Relatives praised the kind and caring nature of the staff team.

People and relatives knew about their care and were in control of the support they needed. People received care and support as they wanted and in a manner they wanted. Relatives were confident to raise concerns with the management team.

The management team was committed to developing and improving the service to deliver a high standard of care to the people they supported. Relatives and staff spoke highly of the management team and told us that they were always available and supportive.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 29 May 2019 and this is the first inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.