St Anne's Community Services - South Kirklees DCA

St Anne's Community Service – South Kirklees is an individualised service providing care and support to people with physical and/or learning disabilities, within their own home or in one of two supported living houses. At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care to five people.

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.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People told us they felt safe and happy. Staff had a good understanding of how to safeguard adults from abuse and who to contact if they suspected any abuse had taken place.

Risk assessments were individualised and minimised risk whilst promoting independence. Staff were trained and competent to administer medicines.

Staff felt supported with an induction and role specific training, which ensured they had the knowledge and skills to support people. Meals were planned around the people’s individual tastes and preferences.

People received a good level of support to lead a fulfilling life. They were supported to maintain good health and had access to healthcare professionals and services.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their life and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

Staff were caring and supported the people in a way that maintained their dignity, privacy, independence and cultural heritage.

People experienced person centred care and engaged in social and leisure activities which they chose and enjoyed.

People were supported to get involved on the running of their houses and the service overall. They were supported to share their views though meetings and surveys.

The registered provider had good systems of governance in place to drive improvements to the quality of the service.

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

Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection the service was rated good and remained good at this inspection (last report published 15 December 2016).

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.

The service provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection there were five people 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 told us or demonstrated that they felt safe and they trusted the staff who supported them.

Staffing levels were appropriate to meet people’s needs in a timely way, although some people relatives and staff said they thought bank staff were used too often.

Support plans for aspects of people’s safety were well documented including people’s ability to communicate and how to ensure medicines were administered safely.

Staff had a good understanding of how to ensure people were safeguarded against abuse.

There was evidence of regular staff training recorded on individual files and the management team were aware of where training needed updating. Induction was detailed for new staff and regular supervision meetings ensured staff were supported in their role.

Care was person-centred and staff were clearly focused on meeting people’s needs in an individual way. Staff treated people with kindness, respect and dignity. Equality and diversity was promoted throughout people’s care records.

Care records documented people’s individual preferences and how their support should be given, with regular planning and review of people’s needs.

Procedures were in place to manage concerns, complaints and compliments about the service. Feedback was welcomed and shared with staff.

Management of the service illustrated a clear overview of the strengths and areas to improve, and staff understood their roles and responsibilities. Processes were in place for monitoring the quality of the provision and documentation which supported the running of the regulated activity was accessible and up to date.

We did not identify any breaches in regulation.

On the day of our inspection we visited the main office, where we spoke with the manager and the two deputy managers. The manager told us they were new in post and were applying to become the registered manager for the service.

We found that one of the three locations (Fenton Street) had been closed down due to being decommissioned. The managers explained that the staff and clients had transferred to a new service which had recently opened in Huddersfield. On the day of our visit the Woodside Lane house had two clients living there and the Colders Lane house had three clients living there; one of these was there on a temporary basis, to provide the family with respite.

Due to the complex needs of the clients using the service we were not able to speak with them to ask for their views. Instead we spoke with two relatives of clients living at the Colders Lane house and a behavioural nurse from the local Community Assessment Team.

The two relatives we spoke with were both parents of clients at Colders Lane. They told us they were very happy with the care provided. One told us 'He seems fine, he's settled in there really well. That's his home now. He gets plenty of activities including horse riding, going out for meals and going for long walks. It's nice that he has a male keyworker as a role model'.

The other relative said 'She's been at Colders Lane for about six weeks and I've visited her a few times. I'm quite happy with the care there, everything seems okay. I sign things on her behalf'.

The behavioural nurse from the local Community Assessment Team told us they had been involved in supporting the two clients living at Woodside Lane. They told us one of the clients living there was a 'real success story'. They told us this client was originally quite scary and threatening and with the right support this client has settled down and seems very happy there. They told us the house has a good mix of mature and younger staff who work hard to understand the challenging behaviours of the clients living there.

During the visit we spoke with one support worker at the Woodhouse Lane house. They told us St Anne's was a good company to work for and they felt confident the service provided was good. They told us staff worked together well as a team to provide the support the clients needed. They told us the clients they worked with could be very challenging at times. They said staff received appropriate training for their role and they felt well-supported. They said 'I've worked for St Anne's for eight years. I quite like the house I am at; I like working here.'

On the day of our inspection we visited the main office, where we spoke with the Registered Manager and a Deputy Manager. We also visited the house at Woodside Lane which was home to three clients and a day centre attended by one client.

During our visit, we spoke with two of the clients. One of them told us they were 'happy with everything' and the other told us the house they lived at was 'brilliant, the staff are all nice and we all get on'. During our visit we saw and heard evidence that clients were consulted regularly about their care and treatment.

During and after the visit we spoke with three support workers who told us St Anne's was a good company to work for and they felt confident the service provided was good. We saw evidence they received appropriate training for their role and they told us they felt well-supported. They told us they would be happy for a family member or friend to be cared for by the service. One support worker told us 'I feel the clients are getting good care' and another said 'St Anne's is one of the best, care-wise'. They told us they had enough time to care for the clients and always ensured client's privacy and dignity were respected.

The support workers we spoke with could tell us what they would do if they saw abuse happening or if someone reported abuse to them.