Helping Hands Rothwell

Updated 17 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 1 inspector 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.

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 24 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.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since it was registered. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used information gathered as part of our monitoring activity that took place on 4 May 2022. 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 this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 4 people who used the service, 6 relatives and 7 members of staff including, the registered manager, care-coordinator and support workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included 4 people's care records and 3 people's medicine records. We looked at 2 staff recruitment files. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed.

Updated 17 January 2023

About the service

Helping Hands Rothwell is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. The service provides support to older people, people with dementia, people with a physical disability, people with a learning disability and autistic people. At the time of our inspection there were 22 people using the service. 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 this service and what we found

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

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

Right Support:

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. Staff received good support which equipped them with their right skills and knowledge to deliver safe, person- centred care. Recruitment processes were in place and most checks were done robustly. The registered manager and provider assured us that going forward they would make sure every check would be consistently robust and safe.

Right Care:

Care was personalised and responsive to people’s needs. People who used the service and their relatives were very happy with the service and confirmed they were involved in planning their care. Everyone was complimentary about the staff. Where required, people received good support with eating and drinking and medication. People received support from staff who were reliable and arrived on time. Feedback about consistency of support workers was generally positive although some people said they would like a smaller team.

Right Culture:

The service was consistently well-led. The management team promoted values that included involvement, respect, independence and quality. Staff had a good understanding of sound care principles such as privacy, dignity and confidentiality. Effective systems were in place for engaging with people who used the service, their relatives and staff. The service had received many compliments which evidenced people received person-centred care. Staff and management worked in partnership with other professionals and agencies.

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 20 May 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

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