Helping Hands Newark received a Good rating across all five key questions at its first inspection, with people and relatives consistently praising the kindness of staff, safe medicines management, and person-centred care planning. Minor areas for improvement were noted around proactive communication with families regarding late visits, provision of advance rotas, and ensuring independent advocacy information was available to people.
Concerns (3)
minor
Communication with families
: “Some people told us there had been occasions when they were not informed if staff were running late.”
minorPerson-centred care: “The provider did not have information available on independent advocacy for people to access. The manager confirmed they would put this in place with immediate effect.”
minorSupervision / appraisal: “The regional manager and manager had carried out an assessment of the service and identified some areas for improvement in relation to staff support and supervision.”
Strengths
· People felt safe and staff demonstrated good knowledge of safeguarding procedures
· Medicines were managed safely with regular audits and appropriate MAR sheet completion
· Robust infection control procedures in place, adapted to address Covid-19 concerns
· Staff received comprehensive induction including shadowing, with all training records up to date
· Care plans were person-centred, well-written and regularly reviewed
Quality-Statement breakdown (24)
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and managementGood
safe: Staffing and recruitmentGood
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
safe: Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
effective: Assessing people's needs and choices; delivering care in line with standards, guidance and the lawGood
effective: Staff skills, knowledge and experienceGood
effective: Supporting people to eat and drink enough with choice in a balanced dietGood