Age UK - Stafford & District Care Services

People’s experience of using this service:

The recording on the medication administration records required strengthening. People were not always safely supported with their medicated creams as guidance to staff was missing. We have made a recommendation that the service review the NICE guidelines for managing medicines for adults receiving social care in the community and ensure medicine management systems are in line with this.

There was no documentation in place to record capacity assessments and best interests’ decisions under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Governance systems required strengthening. The providers quality monitoring system systems did not identify improvements and drive good care.

People were protected from the risk of cross infection as appropriate measures were in place.

People were protected from potential abuse and were supported by safely recruited staff.

People were supported to access healthcare services.

People’s needs, and preferences were met by suitably trained staff who knew them well.

Where the provider had a responsibility to support people they had enough to eat and drink to maintain good health.

People were treated with respect and were well supported by staff.

People’s privacy and dignity was maintained, and their independence promoted.

People received personalised care and knew how to complain if necessary.

The registered manager was approachable to both staff and people.

Rating at last inspection: Good (last report published 30 September 2016)

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the last rating.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor this service through the information we receive.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Age UK Stafford and District Care Services provide personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection 37 people were using the service.

There was a registered manager in post. 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 were protected from abuse and the risk of abuse as staff and the manager followed the correct procedures and reported potential abuse to the local safeguarding authority for further investigation.

Risks to people were assessed and minimised through the effective use of risk assessment and staff knowledge of people and their risks.

There were sufficient numbers of suitably trained staff to keep people safe. Staff had been employed using safe recruitment procedures to ensure they were of good character.

Staff had been trained to administer people's medicines safely.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) is designed to protect people who cannot make decisions for themselves or lack the mental capacity to do so. The provider worked within the guidelines of the MCA to ensure that people consented to their care, treatment and support or were supported to consent with their representatives if they lacked capacity.

People's planned care was personalised and met people's individual needs and preferences. The provider had a complaints procedure and most people knew how to use it.

Staff were supported to fulfil their role effectively. There was a regular programme of training that was relevant to the needs of people, which was kept up to date.

People were supported to eat and drink to maintain a healthy lifestyle dependent on their specific needs and choices.

When people became unwell staff knew what to do and responded and sought the appropriate support.

People told us that staff were kind and caring and their privacy was respected.

The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service.

Everyone we spoke with was very pleased with the care they received. Comments included: "Extremely happy. I wouldn't be able to get up without them", "I like the way [the care worker] provides my care" and "Pleased with the service".

The provider always provided people with information about the service and sought their consent before providing a service. People's wishes and preferences were the basis for their individual plan of care.

People received care at a time that was agreed with them and they always knew who would be providing their care. People said they got on well with their care workers and that they treated them with respect and dignity.

The provider had an effective recruitment procedure. People's care was provided by care workers who went through recruitment checks to make sure they would provide safe and effective care.

An effective system was in place to gain the views of people that used the service. When issues were raised these were acted upon. The quality of people's service was well monitored and checked.

During our inspection we looked at how privacy, dignity and independence of people who used the service was respected. We spoke to people who used the service and family members. All the people we spoke with were complementary of the staff. One person said 'The staff are very polite and courteous, my relative looks forward to seeing them'.

We looked at care provided by the staff at Age Uk. We saw that care plans were person centred and reflected people's choices and preferences in how they wanted their care delivered. The people we spoke with confirmed the staff were supportive of their care needs.

We asked the manager and staff about their understanding of safeguarding (protecting vulnerable adults). The manager confirmed all staff had received the appropriate training. The staff we spoke with were able to tell how they would raise concerns if necessary.

We looked at training records for staff working at the service. The training records we viewed informed us that staff were up to date with their mandatory training. The staff we spoke with all said they felt appropriately trained and supported in their role.

There were processes in place for the on going quality monitoring of the service provided by Age Uk.