Archived: Helping Hands Brighton & Hove

Helping Hands Brighton and Hove is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. On the day of the inspection the service was supporting 11 people with a range of health and social care needs, such as people with a physical disability, sensory impairment or people living with dementia. Support was tailored according to people’s assessed needs within the context of people’s individual preferences and lifestyles to help people to live and maintain independent lives and remain in their homes. Not everyone using Helping Hands Brighton and Hove receives the regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service

People were happy with the care they received and felt relaxed with staff, they told us they were treated with kindness. People said they felt safe, were well supported and there were sufficient staff to care for them. One person told us, “They make me feel very safe. I can’t really give any actual examples, but it’s just the way they are with me and how they always get here on time and stay the time they should do. I usually have the same calls and times and they are all easy to get on with. They all treat me with respect and all wear all the PPE (personal protective equipment) equipment like the masks and aprons and gloves. They have enough staff and they look after me very well.”

People’s independence was promoted and they told us their needs were met. People had a regular team of care staff who arrived on time and knew them well. One person told us, “I have never had to complain about anything, I am really happy with them all. The office always contact me if there are any changes at all. They call me monthly to ask me if I am happy with the service which I am. They talk to me about things that I find interesting and seem to really care about what goes on with me. I am just very pleased with them all.”

People felt they were offered choice in the way their care was delivered, and they had no concerns around their dignity and privacy in their own homes being respected. One person told us, “They are very kind and friendly. I have been having them for about four months and I am very happy with them. They always ask me if its ok to do anything, and if they have some spare time when everything is done, they will always see if anything else is needed. They are all just really kind.”

Staff had received essential training and feedback from people indicated that they knew the best way to care for people in line with their needs and preferences. 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.

The provider had systems of quality assurance to measure and monitor the standard of the service and drive improvement. These systems also supported people to stay safe by assessing and mitigating risks, ensuring that people were cared for in a person-centred way and that the provider learned from any mistakes.

People told us they thought the service was well managed and they received high quality care that met their needs and improved their wellbeing from dedicated and enthusiastic staff. One person told us, “I would say they are very well managed. My overall views on this service is very good and I would give them 10 out of 10.”

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 on 1 April 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was the first inspection for this service.

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.