Helping Hands Macclesfield

The new manager had recognised improvements needed at the service and was addressing these effectively. They were well respected by people using the service and relatives. Staff recognised the difference they had made and felt well supported. The provider had identified that as the number of their services had grown substantially, more regionally based support to branches was required. Together with the new manager they had a clear action plan to remedy previous quality issues and continuously improve people's care and the systems underpinning it.

People were supported by a reliable staff team that had not missed calls and generally attended on time. Care plans supported staff's knowledge of people and their person-centred care. There were some positive examples of personalisation and the manager was developing this further. People felt safe with support from the service and relatives felt their loved ones were "in safe hands" with staff. At times care plans and risk assessments needed to be updated following accidents or incidents, to ensure actions to prevent recurrence were recorded and shared effectively.

Staff worked effectively in partnership with people, relatives and other professionals to achieve positive outcomes, which included increasing their independence. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. The manager had identified the need to develop mental capacity assessments so that the policies and systems in the service consistently supported this practice.