Be Helpful

Updated 12 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 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 homes.

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

We announced the inspection 24 hours before it started. This was because we needed to give the manager time to prepare in advance of our inspection due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inspection activity started on 02 September 2021 and ended on 15 October 2021. We visited the service on 24 September 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information we received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority. 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.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service and the representatives of a further five people about their experiences of the care provided. We spoke with a social worker involved in commissioning services and a district nurse who worked closely with managers and staff. We also spoke with the registered manager, and eight members of staff including, the service manager, office manager, the training manager, a team leader and four care staff. We looked at the recruitment files for the two staff most recently recruited. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were also reviewed.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic we limited the time we spent on site. Therefore, we requested records and documentation to be sent to us and reviewed these off site and continued dialogue with the manager by telephone.

After the site visit

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager and provider to validate evidence found and spoke with.

Updated 12 November 2021

Be Helpful is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to 34 people at the time of the inspection. 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.

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

Risks to people and staff including those presented by the COVID-19 pandemic were not always assessed and recorded and staff were not always being tested for COVID-19 in accordance with government guidelines.

Medicines records and governance arrangements did not always assure that medicines were managed safely.

The provider's quality systems were not sufficiently robust to identify the concerns we highlighted with lack of effective risk assessment and the management of medicines.

The provider was very responsive in taking actions to address the issues we found on inspection however we could not fully assess the impact of these actions until they were fully embedded.

People told us that they felt safe whilst receiving care and all, without exception, were complimentary about the standard of care and services they had received.

People received consistent care from well trained staff who knew them well and they were familiar with. One person told us, “it is an excellent service, I feel so lucky to have them” and another said, “they are very pleasant always treat me with respect, very cheery and happy to have a chat”.

Staff rotas were developed using an electronic call monitoring system. This ensured people received care as and when they needed it and reduced the risk of ‘missed calls’ occurring.

Staff had received training on a range of subjects including COVID-19. They had access to appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) in accordance with government guidelines.

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.

Staff clearly understood the importance of supporting people to develop and maintain relationships and where appropriate involved families, and other advocates in care and support planning processes.

People received care that reflected their needs, characteristics, and personal preferences. Health and social care professionals spoke highly of the standard of care provided. They gave examples as to how managers and staff had worked collaboratively to develop person centred care with positive outcomes for the people who used the service.

The service had a complaints policy and procedure and we saw complaints were dealt with in line with the policy. We also saw the service had received many compliments about the quality of care provided.

The management team were open and transparent throughout the inspection and responded to any requests positively.

People who used the service, their relatives, and staff told us that all members of the management team were approachable, supportive, and always responded effectively to solve problems and improve the service.

We have made recommendations about best practice guidance for oral care and checking staff recruitment files for completeness.

Why we inspected

This service was registered with us on 23 August 2019 and this is the first inspection. The overall rating for the service has been assessed as requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We have identified breaches of regulations in relation to safe care and treatment and governance at this inspection. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Prompt action was taken by the registered manager after the inspection to mitigate risk and improve the quality of care in response to the concerns we found during our inspection.

Follow up

We will request an action plan for the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection program. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.