The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has found the quality of care provided by a care agency in Exmouth, Devon, to be Outstanding following an inspection in April and May 2017.
Inspectors rated Helping Hands Exmouth Ltd, Outstanding for being caring, well-led and responsive to people’s needs and Good for being safe and effective.
Helping Hands Exmouth Ltd provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. The service covers areas that include East Devon and Mid Devon. At the time of our inspection there were 187 people receiving a personal care service.
Deborah Ivanova, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, said:
"Helping Hands Exmouth Ltd has a strong leadership structure with a clear family atmosphere that runs through the service, from how the management team treat their staff to how the people using the service are supported."
“People were placed at the heart of the service and benefited from staff that valued their roles, were passionate about providing exceptional care and took the time to build trusting relationships with them."
“It is always positive to see a service provide people with such personalised care. There was a strong commitment to reducing people’s social isolation and staff supported people to participate in meaningful activities and lead fulfilling lives."
“The team should be extremely proud of the work they do and for achieving an Outstanding rating.”
Staff demonstrated a high level of morale. They were clearly valued by management who provided them with a wide range of excellent training programmes such as, end of life care. In turn, this created job satisfaction and a reliable and stable service. There was also a strong culture of working in partnership with other agencies such as Hospicecare, to ensure people received the best care and treatment available.
Emphasis was placed on people’s enjoyment and experiences of the service. The service used innovative ways to make sure people’s views and opinions were continuously sought and acted upon to help improve the quality of the service. A mix of people from different groups, experiences, people using the service, relatives and carers had been established to allow to have a real say about the service.
People received excellent, compassionate and caring end of life care by staff that made people feel comfortable and reassured. The service demonstrated a caring culture for their staff as well as the people and relatives they supported after a death. Staff were well supported by management in the event of feeling distressed by a person passing away. Management had given a staff member a paid day off in recognition of their distress and commitment following such an event, and the deputy manager would contact staff members to allow them to talk about their experience and feelings. A book was also kept in the office with the details of people who had recently died to inform staff who may have worked with them in the past.
The full inspection report can be found on our website.
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It is always positive to see a service provide people with such personalised care
Deborah Ivanova, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care