The inspection of East Sussex Helping Hands domiciliary care agency took place on 5 and 6 September 2016 and was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be available for the inspection. The inspection involved a visit to the agency’s office and telephone conversations with people who used the service.

East Sussex Helping Hands is a domiciliary care agency based in Eastbourne. They provide support and care for 83 older people living in their own home in Eastbourne, Polegate, Pevensey, Westham and Hailsham. East Sussex Helping hands provides support for people who require a range of personal and care support related to personal hygiene, mobility, nutrition and continence. Some people were living with dementia and other long term health related conditions including anxiety and depression.

The service had a registered manager. 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.

People told us they felt safe receiving the care and support provided by East Sussex Helping Hands. Staff understood and could recognise the signs of potential abuse and knew what to do if they needed to raise a safeguarding concern. Training schedules confirmed staff had received training in safeguarding adults at risk.

Robust recruitment and selection procedures were in place and appropriate checks had been made before staff began work at East Sussex Helping Hands. There were sufficient levels of staff to protect people’s health, safety and welfare consistently and reliably.

People said staff were caring and kind and their individual needs were met. One person told us, “They are my guardian angels.” Another person said, “The staff are so polite.” Staff knew people well and had a good understanding of their needs and choices.

Care plans and risk assessments reflected people’s assessed level of care needs. People were encouraged to be as independent as possible. One person told us, “I can do most things myself, but if I need any further help I can just ask for it.”

Staff felt supported by management, said they were well trained and understood what was expected of them. Staff were encouraged to provide feedback and report concerns to improve the service. A member of staff told us, “I love my job. We have a good team.”

There was a complaints policy and information regarding the complaints procedure was available. Complaints were listen to and investigated in a timely manner and used to improve the service.

Regular audits were in place to measure and monitor the quality of care and service provided.

People and staff surveys were positive about East Sussex Helping Hands. One person commented, “We cannot fault our care.” A member of staff told us, “It is a good company to work for.”

During our inspection we looked at care documentation. We saw that people had been involved in decisions about their care, and had signed to confirm they had read and consented to care decisions.

We spoke with people who used the service, and their relatives/Next of Kin (NoK).

We looked at care documentation and saw that care plan reviews had taken place. People we spoke with told us “I am happy with everything” and “I love my carers, and everyone associated with them.”

Staff had attended safeguarding training, and displayed knowledge of how to recognise and report concerns. On the day of the inspection staff were attending a Mental Capacity training refresher.

Staff records showed that appropriate checks had taken place before people commenced employment.

The provider had systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service provided.

We carried out a themed inspection looking at domiciliary care services. We asked people to tell us what it was like to receive services from this home care agency as part of a targeted inspection programme of domiciliary care agencies. We paid particular regard to how people’s dignity was upheld and how they could make choices about their care.

The inspection team was led by a CQC inspector and joined by an Expert by Experience, (someone who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service).

We used telephone interviews and home visits to talk with people who used the service and their main carers (relatives or friends) to gain their views about the service.

We visited four people in their own homes and spoke with a relative of one of the people we visited. We also spoke with four care workers, the manager and the provider of the service.

All of the people we spoke with were positive about the service and felt that their care needs were met. One person said “I’m over the moon, staff are so good with me, they are on the ball.” People using the service understood the care choices available to them and they told us “The carers do everything that I want them to and then ask if they can do anything else before they leave,” and “had regular carers for 12 years they are wonderful.” People told us that they felt respected, one person said “Staff are very pleasant, they treat me with respect and they have become like friends."