Helping Hands Rainham

Updated 4 November 2022

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 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 homes.

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 72 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 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 also reviewed the information we already held about the service. This included their registration report and notifications. A notification is information about important events, which the provider is required to tell us about by law. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection.

During the inspection, we spoke with the registered manager and care coordinator. We reviewed documents and records that related to people’s care and the management of the service.

We reviewed four staff files, which included pre-employment checks and four people’s care plans. We looked at other documents such as quality assurance and training records.

We also spoke to one person who used the service and seven relatives of people that used the service and two staff.

Updated 4 November 2022

About the service

Helping Hands Romford is a domiciliary care agency and is based in the London Borough of Havering. The service provides personal care to elderly 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 nine people in their own homes.

People’s experience of using this service

Risks were identified and were assessed to help ensure people received safe care. People told us they felt safe when receiving support from staff. Staff were aware of how to safeguard people from the risk of abuse. Systems were in place to ensure staff attended calls on time. Systems were in place to prevent and minimise the spread of infections when supporting people. Pre-employment checks had been carried out to ensure staff were suitable to work with people using the service. Medicines were being managed safely.

Staff had been trained to perform their roles effectively. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. 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 received care from staff who were caring and had a good relationship with them. Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity. People were encouraged to be independent and to carry out tasks without support.

People received person-centred care. Care plans were person centred to ensure people received personalised support. Systems were in place to manage complaints and people’s communication needs were met.

Quality assurance systems were in place to identify shortfalls to ensure there was a culture of 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

This service was registered with us on 14 May 2021 and this was the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on when the service registered with us.

Follow up

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