This inspection took place on 10 January 2019 and was announced. This was the first inspection of Helping Hands – Epsom since they registered with us in January 2018.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to older people living in their own homes. The agency provided personal care to 21 people at the time of our inspection. This included people who were elderly, frail, or living with a diagnosis of dementia.

There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The registered manager assisted us in our inspection.

People’s medicines were managed safely and people told us that staff followed good infection control procedures.

Staff understood their responsibility in relation to reporting any concerns around abuse. People told us they felt safe and we read that risks to people had been identified and recorded. Where accidents and incidents resulting in lessons learnt information was circulated provider-wide for learning.

People were cared for by a sufficient number of staff who told us they did not feel rushed and had sufficient travelling time between calls. Staff had gone through a good recruitment process which included checking the prospective staff member had no criminal offences. Staff had access to sufficient training, supervision and support to help make them competent and feel valued in their role.

People’s consent was sought and staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (2005). People’s needs were assessed prior to the care package commencing and where people needed health care services or their meals provided for them, both of these needs were met.

People told us staff were kind and caring and knew them and their needs. People said they could remain independent but staff supported them in a way that was individualised. People said staff showed them respect.

People’s care plans contained detailed information in all aspects of a person’s care and staff were able to describe people to us. People were asked for any end of life wishes they had. People received responsive care that was person-centred due to the information in the documentation.

People were provided with information about the agency upon commencement of the care package. This included information on how to contact staff out of hours and how to make a complaint.

A wide range of quality assurance monitoring took place which included provider-wide monitoring, area-wide monitoring and individual branch monitoring. People’s feedback was sought and any comments or suggestions responded to. Staff were involved in the agency and demonstrated positive, person-centred values. The registered manager worked with external agencies in respect of people’s care. Notifications were received from the registered manager in line with their requirements of registration.