We carried out this inspection on 19, 20 and 23 July 2018. This inspection was announced, which meant the manager was given 48 hours’ notice of our inspection visit. This was because the location provides a small domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be available to meet with us. This was our first inspection of the service.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. At the time of this inspection Helping Hands, Sheffield was supporting 35 people.

Not everyone using Helping Hands, Sheffield necessarily receives support with 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.

The manager had been at Helping Hands, Sheffield for approximately two months at the time of this inspection. They were in the process of registration with CQC. 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 provider had a compliments and complaints policy and procedure in place and people told us they were aware of how to make a complaint if they needed to. However, some people and their relatives told us of occasions when they had tried to complain and they did not receive a satisfactory response.

Not everyone we spoke with thought there were enough staff available to ensure their care and support needs were met in a timely way. Some people and their relatives told us sometimes calls were missed or late. Not everyone had a regular group of the same care workers visiting them.

The registered provider had effective recruitment procedures in place to make sure staff had the required skills and were of suitable character and background.

Staff understood what it meant to protect people from abuse. They told us they were confident any concerns they raised would be taken seriously by the manager.

Staff were provided with an effective induction and relevant training to make sure they had the right skills and knowledge for their role. Staff were supported in their jobs through regular supervisions.

Staff understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The registered provider’s policies and systems supported this practice.

People told us they were treated with dignity and respect.

People received personalised care. People’s care records reflected the person’s current health and social care needs. Care records contained up to date risk assessments.

Staff told us they felt supported by the manager and were comfortable raising any concerns or queries.

People, their relatives and staff were regularly asked for their views of the service.

There were effective systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided.

The registered provider had up to date policies and procedures which reflected current legislation and good practice guidance.

We found one breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. This was a breach of Regulation 16, Receiving and acting on complaints.

You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.