Helping Hands Kensington & Chelsea

Updated 22 November 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This was the first comprehensive inspection of Helping Hands Kensington and Chelsea since its registration with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on 28 December 2017. We were not aware of any serious incidents or concerns about the service. The inspection was conducted on 4 and 12 September 2018 and was announced. We concluded the inspection on 26 September 2018, following our telephone calls to the relatives and representatives of people who used the service. The provider was given two days’ notice of our plan to conduct this inspection because we needed to ensure that a member of the management team at the service would be available to participate in the inspection process. The inspection was undertaken by one adult social care inspector.

Prior to the inspection we reviewed the Provider Information Record (PIR). The PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also reviewed the information we held about the service and notifications we had received. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send to us in line with legislation.

We spent both days of the inspection at the office location to meet the registered manager and care coordinator, and look at various documents. This included two care plans for people who used the service, staff files for recruitment, training and supervision, the complaints log and compliments folder and medicine administration records. During the inspection we spoke with the care coordinator, the registered manager, two regional heads of home care, and a regional quality assurance partner.

Following the inspection, we spoke by telephone with the friend of one person who used the service and the relatives of three people. We also contacted two care workers and spoke with them about their experiences of working at the service. We contacted a local health and social care professional with knowledge of using this service for their patients and received their written comments.

Updated 22 November 2018

This comprehensive inspection took place on 4 and 12 September 2018 and was announced on the first day. We informed the provider of our intention to return on the second day. Inspection activity was completed on the 26 September 2018. This was the first inspection of the service since it registered with the Care Quality Commission on 28 December 2017.

Helping Hands Kensington and Chelsea is a domiciliary care agency which provides the regulated activity of ‘personal care’ to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. The service is owned by Midshires Care Limited. Not everyone using Helping Hands Kensington and Chelsea receives regulated activity. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects the service being received by people provided with personal care; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of the inspection the provider was providing services for 16 people, which included four people who received personal care.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection, who was present on both days of the inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with CQC to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Processes were in place to ensure the safety of people who used the service. The representatives of people who used the service told us that their family members felt safe and comfortable with their regularly assigned care staff, who were described as “very caring”, “outstanding” and “marvellous.” Staff had received safeguarding training and demonstrated a clear understanding of how to identify if people were at risk of abuse, harm or neglect, and what actions to take to protect people. Detailed recruitment practices had been implemented to make sure that staff had suitable skills and experience to support people who used the service.

Staff asked people for their consent before they provided care and support, and respected people’s choices in relation to how they wished to be supported with their personal care. The provider followed the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) in planning and delivering people’s care and support. People’s needs were assessed by the registered manager before they began using the service and these assessments were used to develop individual care plans that considered people’s needs, wishes and aspirations. Risk assessments had been created to enable staff to support people in a safe manner, while promoting their independence as much as possible. Staff had completed infection control training and confirmed that they were supplied with sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) by the provider.

People were safely supported with their prescribed medicines. People's nutritional needs were understood and met where encouragement and/or assistance with eating and drinking formed part of their care plan, and they were supported to meet their health care needs where necessary. The provider worked in partnership with other local health and social care organisations to ensure that people’s needs were effectively met.

People’s representatives informed us that the care staff were well trained, punctual, friendly and reliable. Systems were in place to support staff with their training and development needs, for example staff attended group meetings with the registered manager and also received regular one to one formal supervision.

People and their representatives received written details in relation to how the service operated, which included out of hours contact telephone numbers and information about how to make a complaint. People’s representatives stated that they thought the registered manager would respond to any complaints in an open and professional way.

The registered manager sought the views of people who used the service and their representatives as part of the quality monitoring process. Regular checks were undertaken to determine whether people were happy with the quality of their care and support. The registered manager understood her legal responsibility to report safeguarding concerns and other notifiable events to the applicable authorities. Care staff informed us that they felt supported by the registered manager, who ensured that the service was operated in a way that reflected the provider’s values and visions.