Background to this inspection
Updated
25 December 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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by one inspector and one Expert-by- Experience. An Expert-by-Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Service and service type
Recovery and Independence is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.
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 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we wanted to be sure the registered manager and staff would be available to speak with us.
Inspection activity started on 19 November 2019 and ended on 20 November. We visited the office location on 19 November 2019.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
During the inspection-
We spoke with nine people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 11 members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, care coordinators, an occupational therapist, supervisors and support staff
We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care, support and medicines records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records were reviewed relating to the quality monitoring of the service, policies and procedures.
We sent out surveys to those staff who we did not meet, 19 were returned and completed sharing their experience of working for the service.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and further quality assurance records.
Updated
25 December 2019
About the service
Recovery and Independence provides short term care and support for people living in their own homes to support with recovery from illness or injury. The service has two distinctive roles, a rapid response service which provides support to people for up to seven days, and a recovery and independence service which provides reablement support for up to six weeks. Some people who access the service are living with dementia and/or mental health conditions. At the time of the inspection there were 32 people receiving personal care from the service.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People and their relatives told us they were extremely happy with the care and support they received. People said, “Staff are extremely caring and always manage to cheer me up and lift my spirits” and “Staff always go the extra mile, they are a credit to the team.”
Through good care planning people had become significantly more independent and less socially isolated. People were supported to access new activities, which had led to the development of hobbies, friendships, self-confidence and independence. Care and support plans were person-centred, detailed and followed in practice to achieve people's outcomes. It was clear staff and the management team were extremely dedicated, committed and passionate about the people they supported.
All staff told us the management team were caring and supportive and that everyone worked together to ensure people received the highest standards of support to regain their independence. Staff spoke passionately about working for the organisation and told us how they cared for people like they would for their own family.
The management team made every effort to ensure people received their support from a consistent staff team who quickly built trusting relationships with people and were knowledgeable about their likes, dislikes, communication needs and preferences.
Staff were safely recruited, well- trained and supported with personalised training programmes. An out- of- hours service was available to support staff with any emergencies. Staff understood the procedures they needed to follow if they suspected abuse and were confident these would be acted upon by managers. Staff told us they felt listened to and were part of an organisation that cared for their well-being as well as the people they were supporting.
People and their relatives told us how staff treated them with the greatest respect for their dignity and privacy. We heard evidence of trusting, caring relationships and a clear commitment to support people at difficult times with compassion, respect and kindness.
People were involved in decisions about the care they received from the very beginning and throughout their time with the service. Staff knew how to communicate with each person to help them to make choices. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
People were supported safely and risks regarding their health were assessed and met. Risks to people’s home environment were identified and action taken to reduce risk. Where people required support with their medicines, these were administered safely and in accordance with the prescribing instructions
Systems were in place to help staff keep safe while lone working. Regular audits and spot checks were carried out; people were asked their views in person and via questionnaires and changes were quickly made if issues were identified. The service learned from incidents, concerns or accidents to help prevent a reoccurrence .
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was Good (published 27 May 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.