Archived: Cumbria-DeafVision

The records we looked at showed that people had been involved in the development and reviews of their care and support plans. The plans provided detailed and up to date information about the needs of the people who used this service.

Support plans included information about people's preferred routines and communication needs. Where other health and social care professionals were involved in the support of service users, details of the level of their involvement were clearly recorded. Where people had very complex needs, we saw that comprehensive risk assessments had been developed, with input from specialist healthcare professionals.

One of the relatives we spoke to told us that there was a copy of the care plan available in the home of their relation and that the care workers maintained a record to help confirm the level of support their relative received at each visit.

Another relative told us, 'There is a care plan, I have seen it. However, it is not produced in a format that my relative would understand.'

The staff that we spoke with were knowledgeable about the support needs of the people they worked with. They confirmed that they had access to care plans and risk assessments relating to the people they supported.

The agency employed people from the deaf community and most of the care staff had the skills to communicate with deaf people either by the use of British Sign Language or by other communication methods.

A relative we spoke to commented, 'The staff supporting my relative at the moment are absolutely fabulous, they go that extra mile. I can see a difference in my relative they look well, clean and tidy and do far more activities now. The staff appear to really care.'

We found that a sufficient number of staff were employed to meet the needs of the people who used this service. We saw that people received support from the same carer or team of carers. The agency employed people from the deaf community and most of the care staff had the skills to communicate with deaf people either by the use of British Sign Language or by other communication methods.

Although people told us they were 'confident' in the skills of their care workers, we found that staff training records were out of date. The manager told us that there had not been any training updates for at least a year. However, a new training plan had started to be developed.

The provider did not have a robust system in place to help monitor and assess the quality of the service provided. The management team were looking at ways to encourage service user feedback to assist with making improvements.

We found that the registered manager had been absent from the agency for some months and that, recently, the board members had appointed two interim managers to oversee the running of the agency and also provide senior management support for the staff.

We were able to speak, with the help of the expert, with some of the people who were receiving support. They told us they were very happy with the service and were very fond of their support workers. Much of the support provided was help with activities of daily living such as shopping, leisure activities and acting as an interpreter. Some people also received help with personal care.

We spoke with people who worked for Deaf Vision who told us they received good support from the newly appointed interim managers.

Staff recruitment was underway but as this agency provides specialist support to people with a hearing impairment it is necessary to appoint staff with signing skills and this can sometimes take more time.