16 September 2016
During a routine inspection
We visited the offices of SENAD community on 16 September 2016. We told the provider before the inspection visit we were coming so they could arrange for support workers to be available to talk with us.
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 felt safe using the service and there were processes to minimise risks to people’s safety. These included procedures to manage identified risks with people’s care and for managing people’s medicines safely.
Support workers understood how to protect people from the risk of abuse and keep people safe. Support workers suitability and character was checked during the recruitment process to make sure they were suitable to work with people who used the service.
The registered manager understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA), and support workers respected people’s decisions and gained people’s consent before they provided personal care.
There were enough support workers to deliver the care and support people required. People said Support workers arrived around the time expected and stayed long enough to complete the care people required. People told us support workers were kind and knew how they liked to receive their care.
Support workers received an induction when they started working for the service and completed regular training to support them in meeting people’s needs effectively. People told us support workers had the right skills to provide the care and support they required. Support records and risk assessments contained relevant information for staff to help them provide the care people needed in a way they preferred.
People knew how to complain and information about making a complaint was available for people. Support workers said they could raise any concerns or issues with the management team, knowing they would be listened to and acted on.
Staff felt supported to do their work and people felt able to contact the office and management at any time. There were systems to monitor and review the quality of service people received and understand the experiences of people who used the service. This was through regular communication with people and staff, returned surveys, spot checks on support workers and a programme of other checks and audits.