The Care Quality Commission
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Helping Hands Poole

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Unit 2, Fleetswood Court 431-441, Wimborne Road, Poole, BH15 3EE

Provided and run by:
Midshires Care Limited

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. 'Right support, right care, right culture' is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it. At the time of the inspection, the location did not provide the regulated activity of personal care for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group. Helping Hands Poole is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. At the time of this inspection 41 people were receiving the regulated activity of personal care from the service. 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. We carried out our on-site assessment on the 10 April 2024, off site assessment activity started on 8 April 2024 and ended on 15 April 2024. During this assessment we looked at 5 quality statements: Learning Culture; Safeguarding; Involving people to manage risks; Equity in experiences and outcomes and Governance, management, and sustainability. The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about the oversight of the service and safeguarding people from avoidable harm. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were not at risk of harm from these concerns.

28 March 2022

During a routine inspection

About the service

Helping Hands Poole is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. 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. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting 26 people in Dorset.

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

People, their relatives and staff told us Helping Hands Poole delivered a safe service. People’s risks were assessed, and measures put in place to help reduce them. Staff knew how to identify and raise concerns about safety, they were confident the service would take them seriously. This included environmental checks including emergency procedures and fire safety.

There were safe infection control procedures in place including enough supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE). Staff compliance was checked and training in preventing the spread of infections was given to all staff. Specific risks associated with COVID-19 for people and staff had been assessed and processes put in place. Staff testing was in line with guidance and everyone knew their responsibilities to protect people. Medicines were managed safely by a live electronic system which alerted the service office if medicines were delayed, this was audited and monitored for added safety.

There were enough staff to meet the needs of the people using the service and recruitment was ongoing, with all necessary recruitment checks having been carried out. The registered manager told us recent changes to the recruitment procedures had improved efficiency and this had supported new staff joining the team. Staff had regular supervision and training and told us they felt well supported.

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. Consent was sought and people with the necessary legal rights and those important to the person had been involved in decisions that were important to them.

People and their relatives told us staff were kind and caring. People were supported to be independent and be involved in their care. People had detailed care plans, which were person centred and regularly updated. The use of an electronic planning system meant that staff had the information they needed immediately.

Quality assurance systems were in place to monitor safety and to drive improvements. Systems were robust and checked all aspects of the service. The registered manager understood their responsibilities and people, their relatives and staff had confidence in them. Supported well by the provider, additional checks at their level ensured the service was operating safely. The service worked well with external professionals and continued to build on those links.

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 03/12/2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to provide this service with its first rating. This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about the service.

Follow up

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