Helping Hands Doncaster

Updated 5 January 2023

The inspection

We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.

Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people and staff.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by 1 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.

Registered manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

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

Notice of inspection

We gave short notice of the inspection in order for the registered manager to provide us with the documentation we needed to look at.

Inspection activity started on 16 December 2022 and ended on 23 December.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since it was registered. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager and 4 people’s relatives. We also received feedback from 4 members of staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people’s care records and various medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location’s office. We used technology such as phone and video calls to enable us to engage with people and staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation.

Updated 5 January 2023

About the service

Helping Hands Doncaster is a service providing support for people in their own homes. Support is provided to people living with dementia and people with physical disabilities amongst other support needs. The service was supporting 10 people at the time of the inspection.

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

People spoke positively about their experience of receiving care from this provider. One person’s relative said: “They are very respectful, they instinctively understand how to communicate with [my relative] and never talk down.” Another person described the service as a “lifeline.”

Relatives told us of times they felt the provider had gone above and beyond their expectations, and more than one told us this provider compared very positively to their previous experiences of receiving domiciliary care.

The registered manager had systems in place which enabled them to have a good oversight of the service. The quality of care people received was regularly audited and adjusted to meet their needs.

Where incidents had occurred, the provider had made the legally required notifications to CQC, and undertook an analysis to assess whether anything had gone wrong or could be improved.

Staff told us they felt well supported, with one telling us: “I enjoy working for Helping Hands they are always sending us emails of appreciation and anything they want to update us on and they are always there when you just need a chat.” Staff reported a good level of communication within the service, and said they felt like they were part of a strong team.

Medicines were managed safely, with regular audits of people’s medication taking place.

The provider took steps to involve people in their care and carried out regular care reviews with people. This enabled them to give feedback and make any changes to their care that may be required.

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. Care took place in accordance with people’s consent, people confirmed staff always asked for their consent before undertaking care tasks.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us in September 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

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