Background to this inspection
Updated
17 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 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.
The service did not currently have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. However, the registered manager had only recently deregistered and a new manager was starting work at the service within two weeks of the inspection. A registered manager from another branch supported this inspection.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 27 May 2021 and ended on 15 June 2021. We visited the office location on 27 May 2021.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed all information we had received about the service since registration. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with a registered manager from another branch who supported our inspection and a member of office staff. We reviewed a range of paper and computer records. These included care plans and associated records for five people, six staff recruitment files and policies and procedures.
After the inspection
We spoke with three people using the service and three care staff. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at further records which were sent to us electronically, such as training information.
Updated
17 July 2021
About the service
Helping Hands Southampton is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.
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. At the time of inspection, 30 people were receiving support with personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The provider sought people’s consent to provide care and support. However, one person needed a decision to be made in their best interests and we were not assured the process for assessing people’s capacity and considering best interests was fully understood.
The provider had an induction and training programme in place which covered a range of subjects considered mandatory by the provider, such as moving and handling and infection prevention and control. However, food hygiene training was not considered mandatory and staff were supporting people with food and drink. Most staff had not completed any training on how to prepare food safely.
Management systems had not identified the issues we identified during our inspection.
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.
People told us they were happy with the service they received and that their privacy and dignity was respected. People had care plans in place which identified their assessed needs as well as their choices about the support they wanted staff to provide. People were supported to take their medicines by trained staff. Staff supported people by providing them with meals and drinks of their choice, where necessary and identified as part of the care plan. People told us staff respected them and confirmed they made choices with staff support, such as what to wear.
The provider had policies and procedures in place designed to protect people from the risk of harm and abuse. The provider had a recruitment process in place which ensured pre-employment checks were in place before new staff started work at the service.
People had risk assessments in place to minimise risks, for example, moving and handling. We were assured that the provider was using gloves, aprons and masks effectively and safely as part of their infection prevention and control.
People’s needs were assessed before the agency offered them a service. Staff worked with other professionals to ensure they had enough knowledge about people to provide a service which met their needs. Care staff supported people to attend healthcare appointments where appropriate.
The provider had a complaints policy and procedure in place. People’s views were sought about the care and support provided. The provider had a system of audits in place to monitor the quality of the service. This included regular checks of records and spot checks of staff when supporting people.
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 16 October 2019 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection as the service has not previously been inspected.
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.