Helping Hands Wantage

Updated 9 November 2022

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience made phone calls to people who use the service and/or relatives. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

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.

Inspection activity started on 22 September 2022. We visited the location's office on 22 September 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since registration. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We looked at notifications received from the provider. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law. This ensured we were addressing any areas of concern.

We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with one person who used the service and seven relatives of those using the service. We spoke with five staff including the registered manager, and we contacted health professionals for feedback about the service.

We reviewed a range of records. This included six people's care records. We reviewed care records remotely through the provider's secure portal. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits and policies and procedures, were reviewed.

Following our visits to the office, we continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data, electronic monitoring data and quality assurance records of site.

Updated 9 November 2022

About the service

Helping Hands Wantage is a domiciliary care service providing the regulated activity of personal care. The service provides support to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 40 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. At the time of inspection 31 people out of the 40 were receiving a regulated activity.

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

People were kept safe from abuse and harm, and staff had the training, knowledge and experience to report any suspicions concerning abuse. The registered manager had systems in place to report and investigate concerns. Risks had been assessed and assessments were in place to manage the risk of harm to people. There were sufficient staff available to keep people safe and meet their needs.

People were supported in a kind and caring way by staff that knew them well. They were happy with the support they received from staff. People's privacy and dignity was considered and maintained, and people were encouraged to make choices. People's preferences, including their likes and dislikes, were considered, and they received support based on these needs. Peoples' communication was considered and there was a complaint policy in place.

Staff members were trained to enable them to safely meet people's needs. Records evidenced that supervision meetings for staff were held regularly and staff told us they were well supported to perform their roles. 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.

Relatives and staff spoke highly of the management; they found them approachable and supportive. There were effective systems to monitor, maintain and improve the quality of the service and the registered manager ensured care and support were provided appropriately, and effectively.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who had a learning disability and or who are autistic.

At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

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

This service was registered with us on 21 June 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection of an unrated service.

Follow up

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