Helpful Home Care LTD

Updated 18 July 2019

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

This 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 house and flats.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service short 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.

Inspection activity started on 14 June 2019, when we visited the office location, and ended on 19 June 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last 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 used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the registered manager, quality assurance manager, and three care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care and medicines records, and records relating to staffing, management and other aspects of the service.

Updated 18 July 2019

About the service

Helpful Home Care LTD is a domiciliary agency that provides care and support to people living in their own accommodation. 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 nutrition. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of this inspection the service was supporting 19 people with personal care.

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

The service was small and personalised. The registered manager knew all the people using the service and their relatives and was in regular contact with them, to ensure they were satisfied with the care and support provided. People told us the service achieved excellent outcomes for them. The staff were happy working at the service and the registered manager was supportive of them.

People were safe using the service as the staff were competent and well-trained. Staff knew what to do to keep people safe and reduce risk to them. They assisted people with their medicines to ensure they had them safely and on time. They understood infection control and used aprons and gloves when assisting people.

Managers met and assessed people before they used the service to ensure their needs could be met. Staff ensured people had access to healthcare services and were trained in medical emergencies and first aid. They supported some people to eat and drink. 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.

The staff were kind, caring and compassionate. People had regular care workers who they got to know well. Staff communicated well with people’s families and representatives and let them know how people were getting on and if there were any concerns about them. Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity and were respectful and polite.

People’s calls were on time and care workers ensured people’s needs were met in the way they wanted. The multilingual staff team catered for people from different cultural backgrounds and understood how best to communicate with them. Information was available to people in accessible formats, for example large print.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last inspection of this service was carried out on 19 October 2016 and the rating was Good.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.