ReadyCQC — A weekly field guide to CQC home-care regulation

Inspection report · 2022-05-26

Framework: KLOE · 15 pages · 77 KB · PDF

Requires improvement

safe: Requires improvementeffective: Requires improvementcaring: Goodresponsive: Goodwell-led: Requires improvement

24/7 Helping Hands Service Ltd was rated Requires Improvement overall due to a Regulation 17 governance breach, including unreported safeguarding concerns, incomplete risk assessments, recruitment gaps, and insufficient staff training, supervision and appraisal. Caring and responsive domains remained Good, with people praising kind staff and timely, person-centred support.

Concerns (11)

criticalGovernance — “The provider did not have suitable systems and processes in place to assess, monitor and improve the quality of the service... breach of Regulation 17”
criticalSafeguarding — “a staff record indicated a person using the service could have been abused. This had not been reported to the safeguarding authority or to CQC as legally required.”
moderateCare planning — “there was no risk assessment in place for a person recorded as having diabetes. There was also no risk assessment in place for a person who had moving and handling needs.”
moderateStaff training — “staff had not received training on people's specific health conditions such as training on strokes, diabetes and sensory impairment.”
moderateSupervision / appraisal — “One staff member who had been in post nearly six months had not yet had supervision. Records of staff appraisal were limited to the staff member's assessments of their own performance”
moderateStaff competency — “Training questionnaires, designed to test whether staff had sufficient knowledge of the subject after completing training, had not been assessed by management to test staff competencies.”
moderateIncident learning — “There was no information in place to indicate that any lessons had been learnt from this situation to prevent it from happening again.”
moderateRecord keeping — “Care plans did not always contain detailed information individual to the people using the service, to ensure that their needs were met.”
moderateOther — “the provider had failed to obtain a reference from relevant previous employment in care, as they had not checked the employment history for a member of staff.”
minorMissed or late visits — “People and relatives told us that they received a timely service although records showed that some calls had been early or late.”
minorComplaints handling — “The procedure also implied that complainants could contact CQC if they were not satisfied, to have their complaint investigated. CQC does not have the legal power to investigate complaints.”

Strengths

· People and relatives reported staff were friendly, kind, positive and caring
· Staff supported people to maintain independence and respected cultural and religious needs (e.g. halal food, first-language staff)
· Medicines were administered safely with no reported issues
· Infection control practices observed - staff wore gloves and aprons and changed them between tasks
· Sufficient staffing levels with no missed calls reported by people

Quality-Statement breakdown (5)

safe: Risk assessments and safe recruitmentRequires improvement
effective: Staff training, supervision and appraisalRequires improvement
caring: Kind, caring and respectful staffGood
responsive: Person-centred and responsive careGood
well-led: Quality assurance and governanceRequires improvement

Inspection reports (3)