Helping Hands Newark

Updated 14 July 2021

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

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

The service had a manager who had commenced their registration with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 72 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 26 May 2021 and ended on 11 June 2021. We visited the office location on 26 May 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We contacted five people who used the service and six relatives about their experience of the care provided. We contacted 12 care staff, the care coordinator, the training officer the manager and the area manager.

We reviewed a range of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, audits and governance records. We looked at five people's care records and medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 14 July 2021

About the service

Helping Hands Newark is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to older people, people living with dementia, people with physical disabilities, younger people and people with sensory impairments. At the time of the inspection 29 people were receiving the regulated activity of personal care.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. 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.

People's experience of using the service and what we found

People and their relatives were positive about the service. People were safeguarded from the risk of abuse and received safe care and treatment. Medicines were managed in the right way, there were enough staff on duty and safe recruitment practices were in place. Accidents and near misses had been analysed so lessons could be learned to help avoid preventable accidents. Infection was prevented and controlled and people had been helped to quickly receive medical attention when necessary.

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

People were treated with kindness and compassion, their privacy was respected and confidential information was kept private.

People were consulted about their care, had been given information in a user-friendly and were supported to avoid the risk of social isolation. There were effective arrangements in place to resolve complaints.

Quality checks had been completed and people had been consulted about the development of the service. Good team work was encouraged and joint working was promoted.

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

Why we inspected

The service was registered with us on 10 October 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 reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.