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.