Hands of Hope Health Care Limited

Updated 27 November 2021

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 completed 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. At the time of this inspection twelve people were receiving support from this provider. The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. 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 the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We visited the offices of this service. We spoke with the registered manager. We inspected three care files and three staff files. We also reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

We spoke with two people who used the service and two relatives on the telephone about their experience of the care provided. We also spoke with two care workers and community nurse on the telephone. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 27 November 2021

About the service:

Hands of Hope is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. At the time of our inspection it was supporting 12 people. The Care Quality Commission (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:

People told us they were safe and were protected from the risk of abuse. The service had safeguarding procedures in place that staff were well aware of. Staff received training on safeguarding people. Risk assessments and risk management strategies were in place as part of the assessment and support planning process. This meant risks to people’s safety and to staff were minimised.

There were robust recruitment practices in place and sufficient staffing levels to meet people's needs.

The registered manager told us at the time of this inspection staff did not administer medicines. People’s relatives undertook the responsibility for this. However, the registered manager said all staff received appropriate training. This together with appropriate supervision and monitoring meant if required staff had clear guidance to follow and people would receive their medicines safely.

The provider ensured that all their staff received appropriate training and support to understand and to manage COVID-19. This included best practice for infection control and the use of PPE. Staff also received appropriate guidance on how to support people with dementia to understand the pandemic and COVID-19. The provider made appropriate support services available to staff in order to support their mental wellbeing through the pandemic and if they became unwell and when they returned to work.

There were systems in place to ensure that accidents, incidents and risks were appropriately recorded and included details of preventive strategies used by the service to reduce the likelihood of events occurring in the future.

Assessments were thorough and expected outcomes were identified. Support plans were reviewed and updated as people’s needs changed. People were supported by staff who knew them well and were able to identify people’s likes and dislikes. They were supported to eat and drink according to their dietary requirements taking into consideration people’s preferences.

Staff received comprehensive training in all the necessary areas of their work. Staff had regular supervision with the registered manager, and they told us they felt supported.

People told us they were treated with dignity and respect. This was echoed by people’s relatives. They told us staff had the right skills to deliver appropriate care and support. Staff were able to communicate with people well. Information was provided in various formats where required to meet people’s communication needs.

People and their relatives were confident that any feedback whether this was positive or negative would be addressed appropriately and resolved by the registered manager. They told us the registered manager welcomed feedback and they said complaints were dealt with swiftly and professionally.

People told us they thought the service was well led and that they were very happy with the support they received.

There were effective systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided to people which ensured good governance. Technology was used effectively by the provider to ensure people were informed promptly about potentially missed or late calls. The service had systems in place to notify the appropriate authorities where concerns were identified. The culture of the service was positive, open and person centred.

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

Rating at last inspection and update:

The last rating for this service was good (published 19 March 2020). At this inspection we rated the service as good.

Why we inspected:

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services rated good and outstanding to test the reliability of our new monitoring approach.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service using our monitoring systems and we will re-inspect when indicated.