Helping Hands Tunbridge Wells

Personal care was provided by a team of care staff completing care calls to people in their own homes.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects the service being received by people provided with personal care, where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

People's experience of using the service and what we found People and their relatives were positive about the service. A person said, "The staff are very kind to me and I'm happy to use the service."

People were safeguarded from the risk of abuse. They received safe care and treatment in line with national guidance. There were enough care staff to reliably complete care calls on time and safe recruitment practices were in place. People were supported to safely manage medicines, lessons had been learned when things had gone wrong and good standards of hygiene were promoted.

Care staff had received introductory and refresher training and guidance. They had the knowledge and skills they needed to provide safe care. People had been helped to obtain medical attention when necessary and to receive consistent care when they moved between service.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and care staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. The policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People received compassionate care, their dignity was promoted and their right to privacy was respected. They were also supported to express their views about things important to them.

People were consulted about their care and given information in a user-friendly way. People were supported to pursue their hobbies and interests. There was a procedure for quickly resolving complaints and provision was in place to ensure people were supported at the end of their lives to have a dignified death.

Quality checks had been completed. People had been consulted about the development of the service and their suggestions had been implemented. Good team work was promoted, regulatory requirements had been met and joint working was promoted.

For more details, please read the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk