Archived: The Laurels - Witney

We found that people were satisfied with the care and support they received. One person told us 'the staff are really good'. People had received care from the agency for many years and we observed care workers interacting with people in a way which showed that they knew them and their needs well. We observed care workers being respectful towards people and treating them with dignity.

People were supported to make choices and received the care they needed in the way they preferred. Care workers used individualised communication aids to support people to express their wishes. We found that where people lacked the capacity to make significant decisions best interest decisions had been made in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act (2005).

We found that people had an assessment of their health and welfare needs. We saw that care plans reflected people's needs and risk assessments provided care workers with sufficient information to know how to support people appropriately to ensure their safety and welfare.

The agency had arrangements in place to protect people from the risk of abuse. Staff understood local safeguarding arrangements and knew how to respond to any concerns relating to abuse. We saw that systems were in place to protect people that could not manage their money independently from financial abuse.

We found that staff had received appropriate induction, training and supervision to ensure that they had the skills to undertake their care tasks competently.

The agency had systems in place to monitor the quality of care provided. Monthly house meetings were held to provide people with an opportunity to evaluate the quality of the support they received. Systems were in place to monitor risks and the agency ensured that they learned from investigations. The agency undertook regular audits and we found that they took action when risks were identified.

The people we spoke to who used the service said they were very happy with their care and with the staff. All the staff members we spoke to also said they were very happy to work in the service, and felt they had the proper training, qualifications and support to carry out their roles effectively.

We looked at the care planning process and this appeared to be comprehensive and individual care plans were kept up to date. People who used the service had a lot of say in their care, and staff were always guided by what the person wanted.

All the staff had undergone safeguarding training, and had an awareness of different types of abuse. They all felt confident to raise any issues of concern around safeguarding with their manager.

We saw evidence of staff training and supervision, and the staff members we spoke to were confident that they would be supported should they wish to study for further qualifications.

The provider used a range of tools and methods to monitor service quality, including questionnaires, direct observation techniques, incident monitoring, and service checklists.