Helping Hands Fareham

Helping Hands Fareham is a service providing personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 52 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

People were supported by staff who knew how to prevent and manage risks and keep people safe. Systems were in place to reduce the risks of avoidable harm and abuse.

Recruitment practices were safe and there were sufficient numbers of consistent staff available to meet people’s needs. People received their medicines as prescribed. The service's arrangements for controlling infection were effective.

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 received effective training that gave them the skills to support people with their needs. All people and relatives spoken with were confident in the staff’s abilities and thought staff had the right skills to look after them. New staff completed a comprehensive induction to their role prior to commencing employment and ongoing training and supervision was provided.

People were supported to access health and social care professionals if needed. The registered manager and office staff worked in close partnership with health and social care professionals and agencies to plan and deliver care and support. People were supported to meet their nutritional and medication needs where appropriate

People were positive about all aspects of the service and told us staff supported them in a kind and caring way. Staff treated people with dignity and respect. People were treated equally and had their human rights and diversity respected. People were encouraged and supported to remain independent.

Care plans were personalised, and ensured people received personal care tailored to meet their individual needs and wishes. People were encouraged to make decisions about the care and support they received and had their choices respected. People were confident that if they raised any issues, concerns or complaints these would be dealt with effectively by the registered manager.

The staff and management team were mindful of the risk of social isolation for people living in the community. People were supported by staff to attend social events that were important to them. Full consideration had been given to people’s communication needs to help ensure effective communication.

The registered manager was open and transparent and understood their regulatory responsibilities. People and their relatives felt the registered manager and staff were approachable and supportive. There were effective governance systems in place to identify concerns in the service and drive improvement. They were responsive to feedback from people, staff and professionals and acted to make improvements in the service. The service worked well with other partners, organisations and commissioners.

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 26 July 2017).

Why we inspected

This comprehensive inspection was a planned inspection based on the date the service was last inspected.

Follow up

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

Helping Hands Fareham provides personal care services to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 67 people receiving personal care from the service. They were supported by 43 care staff, two field care supervisors, two care co-ordinators a registered manager, head of care and a compliance and risk officer.

A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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.

People were protected from harm and potential abuse. Risks to people had been identified and managed. Safe recruitment and medicines practices were followed and there were enough staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe.

Staff had the skills and knowledge to support people and meet their needs. People consented to their care and were supported to eat and drink when required and have access to external health and social care professionals.

People received a service which was kind, caring and compassionate and respected their privacy, dignity and independence. People felt listened to when making decisions relating to their care.

People received a service which met their needs. Care plans in place were up to date and contained all the detail staff needed to provide care to people. Care plans were individualised and contained people’s preferences and how they would like their care to be provided. Complaints had been received and dealt with in line with the provider policy.

People and staff were positive about the overall service, the registered manager and staff. Staff felt well supported and confident to question practice. Core values were implemented into service delivery and audits and systems were in place to assess the overall quality and safety of the service and notifications had been received.