Bridge Medical Solutions

Updated 1 March 2019

The inspection: We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team: This inspection was completed by one adult social care inspector.

Service and service type: The service provides personal care to people living in the community.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection: We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

What we did: Before this inspection we reviewed information we held about the service. The registered manager had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also reviewed notifications submitted to us by the service. Providers are required by law to notify us of certain events, such as when a person who uses the service suffers a serious injury. We took this information into account when we inspected the service.

We contacted two social care commissioners who help arrange and monitor the care of people living in their own homes. We used the feedback from these organisations to plan our inspection.

During this inspection we visited and spoke with two people who used the service in their homes and telephoned and spoke with three of their relatives and friends. We spoke with four members of staff and the registered manager.

We looked at three people's care records, including the medication administration records and three staff files which included recruitment checks, supervisions, appraisals and training records. We also looked at other records relating to the management of the service, such as quality assurance audits and accidents and incidents records.

Updated 1 March 2019

About the service:

Bridge Medical Solutions is a small family run domiciliary care service. Bridge Medical Solutions also provide care staff to other providers via their staffing agency. This inspection looked only at the regulated activity carried out by domiciliary care service which was personal care. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting five people with personal care.

People’s experience of using this service:

The service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

People we spoke with told us they felt safe and secure in their accommodation. They said staff were very good. Described as outstanding by one person. Relatives told us they thought staff were professional in their approach but remained friendly and caring.

There was a recruitment system in place that helped the employer make safer recruitment decisions when employing new staff. Support workers we spoke with had a clear understanding of safeguarding people and would act appropriately to safeguard people from abuse.

There was a programme of training, supervision and appraisal for staff to support people using the service with their assessed needs.

The care plans we looked at included risk assessments, which identified any risks, associated with people’s care and had been devised to help minimise and monitor the risks without placing undue restrictions on people.

Medications procedures were in place including protocols for the use of ‘as and when required’ (PRN) medications. Staff had received training in medication management and medication was audited in line with the provider’s procedures.

We observed good interactions between support workers and people who used the service. People were encouraged to make decisions about their activities and meals.

Although there had been no complaints received, there was a clear complaints process in place and copies of this were available in people’s homes.

The service was very well run. People spoke fondly of the registered manager. There were effective systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided.

Feedback received from healthcare professionals was extremely positive.

Rating at last inspection:

Good (published 16 September 2016)

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating awarded at the last inspection. The service remains good.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor this service. We plan to complete a further inspection in line with our re-inspection schedule for those services rated good.