Archived: Care Assist Domicilary Care Services

The last inspection of the service was in October 2013 when we found the provider was meeting all of the standards we inspected.

Care Assist Domiciliary Care Services is a supported living service for up to 12 men and women with mental health care needs. People have their own, self-contained flats in the location and there is a team of staff on site to provide care and support. When we carried out this inspection, 12 people were using the service. 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.

The provider had systems in place to protect people using the service and staff had the training they needed to provide safe care and support.

The provider carried out checks on new staff before they started to work in the service and there were enough staff to meet people’s care and support needs.

Staff supported people with their physical and mental health care needs and made sure people received the medicines they needed safely.

Staff had the training they needed to care for and support people using the service. The provider supported staff and had systems to ensure they received regular supervision and an annual appraisal of their performance.

People told us staff supported them to prepare food they enjoyed.

Staff who supported people using the service were kind and caring. They respected people’s privacy and dignity and offered people choices about aspects of their daily lives.

The provider assessed, recorded and reviewed people’s care and support needs with them. Their support plans reflected their individual preferences and included information about what was important to the person.

People told us their health, community living skills and mental wellbeing had improved since they moved to the service.

People took part in a range of social and leisure activities in the service and the local community.

There was a positive culture and people using the service, their representatives and staff were happy with the service and thought it was well managed. They told us they were able to contribute their views and felt listened to.

The provider had systems for auditing the service and plans for continuous improvements.

We looked at the care plans for 3 people using the service. We saw that the care plans detailed their needs and the support their care workers should provide. The plans were updated regularly and people were involved in reviewing the care they received.

The provider had policies and procedures for safeguarding adults and children using the service. Support workers understood the procedures and had received training to enable them to identify and respond to possible abuse.

We looked at the personnel files for 4 support workers and saw that the provider had carried out appropriate checks before support workers started to work with people using the service.

There were procedures in place to monitor the standards of care and support delivered to people using the service. Regular audits were carried out by the provider and staff working in the home. People using the service were asked for their views and these were acted upon.

People said they were able to make choices for themselves. One person said 'the staff are good, they listen to me and help me with anything I need." Another person told us, 'the staff are nice, they try to help." People also told us they were involved in discussions about their care and were happy with the support they received. If people were unable to make decisions for themselves, capacity assessments were completed and best interest decisions were made on their behalf.

People were encouraged to express any concerns they might have and the service's complaints procedure was given to each person using the service. The complaints and safeguarding procedures were displayed so people using the service and their representatives had the information they needed to raise any concerns.