Helping Hands Preston

Helping Hands Preston is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 41 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

The registered manager assessed peoples’ individual needs prior to them receiving care and support. Individual risk assessments were in place to highlight areas of risk however, we found some gaps in the information to guide staff. We have made a recommendation about the level of detail included in care documentation.

We found some inconsistencies in medicine administration records. We found staff were not always documenting the time medication was given. This information is required for medicines that are to be given before or after food or separate to other medicines. The provider responded immediately during our inspection to address this.

People were given their medicines by staff who were trained to do so. One person told us, “One lady is particularly good and gives me good advice on medicines.” People and their relatives told us they felt safe with the care staff. Staff were aware of how to identify and report safeguarding concerns. We were assured by the infection prevention and control procedures in place. We found recruitment was safe and the staff files we viewed contained the relevant information.

People told us the service was well managed. We received consistently positive feedback about the registered manager. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the care provided. Suggestions around improvement to these systems were discussed with the registered manger during the inspection and these changes were implemented during the inspection.

We found the management team receptive to feedback and keen to improve the service. The registered manager worked with us in a positive manner and provided all the information we requested.

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 06 June 2019).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the management of medicines and staff training. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well led only.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well led sections of this full report.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has remained good based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Helping Hands Preston on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation about the level of detail included in care documentation.

Follow up

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

Helping Hands Preston provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. Not everyone using received a regulated activity. The Care Quality Commission 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 take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection the service was providing personal care to 22 people.

People’s experience of using this service People told us they received safe care and treatment. They spoke positively about the care staff and the support they provided. The registered manager had procedures for protecting people against risks of harm and for reporting safeguarding concerns. The care delivered was consistently safe, reliable and person-centred.

The registered manager had assessed people’s needs and provided staff with guidance on how these needs were to be met. People were supported with the safe use of medicines. Staff had received training in safe medicines management and had access to national guidance and best practice.

Staff showed a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities for keeping people safe from harm. Individual and environmental risks had been assessed to minimise the risk of harm to people and staff during care visits. There was a lone working policy and after-hours support to assist staff when working on their own and after hours.

People received support to maintain good nutrition and hydration and their healthcare needs were understood and met.

Staff supported people to have maximum choice and control of their lives, the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. They sought consent before delivering care.

People told us staff visited as planned and they were punctual. The registered manager had processes for monitoring visits however this was not fully operational. Plans were in place to roll out the visit monitoring technology to enable the provider to monitor whether staff were visiting as planned.

Staff had received a range of training and support to enable them to carry out their role safely. They were provided with one to one supervision including announced spot checks while in the community.

People and family members knew how to make a complaint and they were confident about complaining should they need to. They were confident that their complaint would be listened to and acted upon quickly. Previous complaints had been dealt with appropriately.

Governance arrangements were in place to monitor and improve the care delivered. The provider had monitored the registered manager to ensure they were complying with regulations.

The leadership of the service promoted a positive culture within the staff team. The registered manager showed they were committed to improving the service and displayed knowledge and understanding around the importance of working closely with other agencies and healthcare professionals where needed.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

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