# A Caring Hand Ltd A Caring Hand Ltd is a CQC-regulated home-care agency in Witney. ## CQC Ratings | Key question | Rating | | --- | --- | | Overall | Requires improvement | | Safe | Requires improvement | | Effective | Good | | Caring | Good | | Responsive | Good | | Well-led | Requires improvement | Rating published: 24/06/2023 ## Practical info - Postcode: OX29 0SR - Registered manager: Mullins, Steven - Local authority: Oxfordshire - Region: South East - City: Witney - Last CQC check: 24/Jun/2023 - 00:00 ## Inspection findings ### caring - Finding - Respecting and promoting people's privacy, dignity and independence - Published: 2022-02-03 - Finding - Supporting people to express their views and be involved in making decisions about their care - Published: 2022-02-03 - Finding - Ensuring people are well treated and supported; respecting equality and diversity - Published: 2022-02-03 ### effective - Finding - Ensuring consent to care and treatment in line with law and guidance - Published: 2022-02-03 - Finding - Staff working with other agencies to provide consistent, effective, timely care - Published: 2022-02-03 ### Other - Finding - Evidence: People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives in the least restrictive way possible. - Published: 2025-10-01 - Finding - Evidence: The registered manager understood and applied the Duty of Candour and was responsive to issues raised during inspection. - Published: 2025-10-01 - Finding - Evidence: The service supported people to access a range of health and social care professionals including GPs, district nurses, and social workers. - Published: 2025-10-01 - Finding - Evidence: Staff understood their responsibilities to identify and report safeguarding concerns to management. - Published: 2025-10-01 - Finding - Evidence: People and relatives reported feeling safe and were happy with the care received, with staff going above and beyond during calls. - Published: 2025-10-01 - **leadership** _(moderate)_ - Evidence: I feel like I'd be shut down if I suggested a change. Staff did not always feel they were involved within the service development or given an opportunity to be heard. - Published: 2025-10-01 - **person_centred_care** _(moderate)_ - Evidence: People's views and decisions about support were not always incorporated in their support plans. This meant staff were not always aware of how to support people in a way that allowed people to have control. - Published: 2025-10-01 - **infection_control** _(minor)_ - Evidence: A chap who turned up without a uniform and occasionally the males don't wear aprons. Management was unsure of when this message was communicated to staff. - Published: 2025-10-01 - **safeguarding** _(moderate)_ - Evidence: Records did not confirm all staff had received training in safeguarding adults. Staff were not always sure who to contact if they had wider concerns such as the local authority. - Published: 2025-10-01 - **incident_learning** _(moderate)_ - Evidence: Records did not show actions taken in response to incidents. There was no evidence the service had undertaken an audit or wider analysis of accidents and incidents to identify themes or trends. - Published: 2025-10-01 - **supervision_appraisal** _(moderate)_ - Evidence: Supervisions were not conducted, and spot checks were inconsistent. The provider was unable to demonstrate systems in place to determine when spot checks were due or had occurred. - Published: 2025-10-01 - **staffing_levels** _(critical)_ - Evidence: 2 members of staff had been working without a DBS. We did not see any risk assessments in place to mitigate the time period. - Published: 2025-10-01 - **governance** _(critical)_ - Evidence: Audits were either not undertaken regularly or in some instances were not completed at all. No audits of medicines administration records (MARs). - Published: 2025-10-01 - **staff_training** _(critical)_ - Evidence: Training records were missing training information such as; diabetic care, eye drops, PEG training. The training matrix did not contain information for all staff working for the company. - Published: 2025-10-01 - **record_keeping** _(critical)_ - Evidence: The provider had failed to ensure there were accurate and complete records in respect of each person, to evidence the care and treatment provided to them was in line with their assessed needs. - Published: 2025-10-01 - **care_planning** _(critical)_ - Evidence: 4 out of 5 risk assessments we reviewed did not contain information relating to people's risks. Care plans were ineffective at providing guidance to staff, exposing people to the risk of harm. - Published: 2025-10-01 - **medication_management** _(critical)_ - Evidence: I haven't had any training with medicines and my competencies have not been checked. Another person: I haven't had medicine training yet. This person was supporting people with their medicines. - Published: 2025-10-01 ### responsive - Finding - End of life care and support - Published: 2022-02-03 - Finding - Improving care quality in response to complaints or concerns - Published: 2022-02-03 - Finding - Meeting people's communication needs - Published: 2022-02-03 - Finding - Planning personalised care to ensure people have choice and control and to meet their needs and preferences - Published: 2022-02-03 ### well_led - Finding - Working in partnership with others - Published: 2022-02-03 - Finding - How the provider understands and acts on the duty of candour - Published: 2022-02-03 - Finding - Promoting a positive culture that is person-centred, open, inclusive and empowering - Published: 2022-02-03 - Finding - Managers and staff being clear about their roles, and understanding quality performance, risks and regulatory requirements - Published: 2022-02-03 ## Source Data published by the [Care Quality Commission](https://www.cqc.org.uk/) under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Canonical page: https://homecarecompass.co.uk/agency/1-9188405334 HomeCare Compass is an independent guide and is not affiliated with the CQC.