Archived: Harrogate and Craven Crossroads

We inspected this service on 23 May 2017. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice of our inspection because we needed to be sure that someone would be in the location’s office when we visited. At the time of our inspection there were 58 people using the service. At the last inspection, the service was rated ‘Good’. At this inspection, we found the service remained ‘Good’.

People who used the service felt safe with the care that staff provided. People were protected from the risk of abuse by staff trained to identify and respond to safeguarding concerns. The provider had robust procedures to ensure effective recruitment of staff. There were sufficient staff employed to meet people’s needs.

People were supported to communicate their needs, make choices and this meant they had maximum control of their lives. Where people were unable to make their own decisions, the provider needed to ensure they recorded decisions made in people’s best interests in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Care plans and risk assessments were used to provide guidance to staff on how to safely meet people’s needs. Care plans were person centred. They contained details of how people preferred their support to be delivered.

People told us they had regular staff that supported them. This enabled people to develop positive caring relationships with the staff that visited them. This also enabled staff to get to know people and how best to meet their needs. This had led to staff supporting people’s interests, hobbies and social networks in innovative ways. People told us this had increased their feeling of wellbeing and prevented social isolation for some people.

Systems were in place to support staff to safely administer medicines. We made a recommendation that the provider implement all good practice guidance regarding medicines management.

Staff received training, on-going supervisions and appraisals to enable them to perform their role. The provider checked staff performance through observing their practice in people’s homes.

People provided very positive feedback about the kind, caring and motivated staff that supported them. Staff supported people to maintain their privacy, independence and dignity.

There was a system in place to gather and respond to feedback about the service provided which included an annual survey and complaints procedure. People and their carers were positive about the service they received and they told us it was well led.

The manager had systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service. Although they communicated with the provider regularly, the provider did not check that the work the manager completed ensured a safe and quality service. We made a recommendation that the provider review arrangements to ensure a robust quality assurance system was in place.

Before carers received support from Crossroads Harrogate and Craven they were asked for their consent to allow care support workers to provide care to their relative. Records showed all care plans were signed and dated by the carer and a member of staff.

People's needs were assessed and care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with their individual care plan. We spoke with carers and people who were cared for. They all expressed a high level of satisfaction with the service received. Comments included "They [staff] are absolutely wonderful. I have had the same care support worker for the entire time", "The experience has been excellent; they are flexible and meet all our needs" and "They [staff] are marvellous; I could not do without them."

Carers and people who were cared for were protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening. We asked people who received a service from Crossroads whether they felt safe when care support workers went into their homes. All the people told us they felt safe.

Staff received appropriate professional development.

Suitable arrangements were in place to monitor the quality of service people received. Checks on the quality of service provided were carried out by the provider and the manager.