Home Help Watford

Updated 19 October 2019

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

The 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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission who is also the provider. This means that they are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

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 a member of senior staff would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 13 September 2019 and ended on 2 October 2019. We visited the office location on 17 September 2019.

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. 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 four people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the provider, senior care staff, care coordinators and an administrator.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff training. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 19 October 2019

About the service

Home Help Watford is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes and flats. At the time of our inspection the service was providing care and support to 22 people.

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 told us that they felt safe and were supported by consistent, reliable staff. Staff understood their responsibilities with regards to safeguarding people and they had received effective training. There were systems in place to safeguard people from the risk of possible harm. The service had robust recruitment procedures in place.

People’s needs had been assessed and they had been involved in planning their care and deciding in which way their care was provided. Each person had a detailed care plan which was reflective of their needs and had been reviewed at regular intervals. Staff were knowledgeable about the people that they were supporting and provided personalised care. Assessments and care plans we looked at during the inspection reflected the detailed knowledge that staff had of the people they supported.

Medicines were being managed well and staff followed good infection control practices.

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.

There was a positive culture of person-centred, quality care throughout the organisation. Staff told us they enjoyed working at the service and that they were well supported by the management team. Staff felt valued, motivated and were committed to the people they were supporting.

There was positive leadership at the service and people and staff spoke highly of the provider. Senior staff were dedicated to maintaining high standards and there were robust quality assurance systems in place.

People told us they were comfortable in contacting the office and felt listened to. No formal complaints had been raised at the service; however, there was a procedure in place should any concerns be raised.

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 17 January 2017). Since this rating was awarded the location has changed its name. We have used the previous rating to inform our planning and decisions about the rating at this inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

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