Background to this inspection
Updated
2 November 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 houses and flats.
The service had a manager, who was also the owner of the service, registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they 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 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 1 October 2019 and ended on 4 October 2019. We visited the office location on 1 October 2019 and made telephone calls to relatives and staff after this visit.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 visited, with permission, two people who used the service and spoke with the registered manager.
We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
After the inspection
We spoke by telephone with one relative, one family friend and three care staff.
Updated
2 November 2019
About the service
Caring Hands Solutions (known as Caring Hands) is a small domiciliary care agency providing support for people in their own homes. The service was supporting nine people at the time of our inspection.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Everyone we spoke with was very positive about the care and support provided by Caring Hands. They said they felt safe with the care staff who were kind and caring and always asked what people would like them to do at each visit. Support visits were not missed, and staff stayed the full length of the call and would stay longer if needed.
The registered manager and care staff were approachable, and people felt able to raise any concerns directly with them. The registered manager had weekly contact with staff and regularly phoned or visited people to ensure they were receiving the support they wanted. Staff said they felt well supported and received the training they needed for their role. Staff were safely recruited.
Care plans and risk assessments were in place to identify the support people wanted. People and relatives were involved in agreeing and reviewing their care plans. People were supported to meet their health and nutritional needs.
Staff prompted people with their medicines. We have made a recommendation with regard to following best practice for the prompting and recording of medicines.
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. All the people being supported by Caring Hands Solutions at the time of our inspection had the capacity to make their own decisions and agree to their care and support.
The registered manager had oversight of the service through regular contact with people, their families and staff to gain feedback on the service. Care plans were reviewed every six months and annual spot checks were formally recorded with staff. Daily records were reviewed by the registered manager each month. We have made a recommendation about following best practice for the retention of care records.
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 rating for this service was Good (published 27 April 2017).
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.