Archived: Heart of England Mencap DCA Studley

Below is a summary of what we found. If you want to see the evidence supporting our summary please read our full report.

Is the service safe?

We inspected this service previously on 10 December 2013 and identified improvements were required in the quality of the service's records. There were concerns that some people's care records were not accurate. We found the provider had made changes since our previous inspection and improvements had been made in this area.

We saw people's care records accurately reflected their care needs. We saw people had risk assessments in place that made sure risks to their health were managed. We found people's care records were regularly evaluated and reviewed by senior staff.

We found staff followed the provider's infection control policy. People told us staff maintained good standards of hygiene when they supported them in their homes.

We found evidence learning took place from incidents and that following investigations, appropriate changes were implemented to improve the service.

Is the service effective?

People told us the care they received met their needs. They told us they had been involved in planning the care they received.

Staff we spoke with had a clear understanding of the needs of the people they supported and what they told us was reflected in people's support plans.

Is the service caring?

We spoke with four people who used the service and they were all positive about the staff who supported them. For example people told us; 'Very nice staff', 'They really are genuine' and 'The staff are lovely.'

Staff we spoke with were positive about their role as care workers.

Is the service responsive?

We found people were asked for their views about their care and these were acted on. We saw the provider had sent out a quality assurance survey to people who used the service in April 2014. The results we saw from the survey were good.

People told us they felt comfortable to raise any issues they had about the service. We found issues were responded to by the manager in a timely way.

People told us the service was flexible and they could contact the care office at short notice and request changes to their care.

People told us care staff noticed when their needs changed and took action.

Is the service well led?

We found the service had an effective quality assurance system in place and any identified actions had led to improvements in the service people received.

We found evidence improvements had been made to the service following investigation of concerns.

People we spoke with were positive about the care they received. One person's relative told us, 'I am happy with the care. The staff are very, very good.' Another relative told us, 'I am very pleased with the service.'

Staff demonstrated they understood people's personal needs and the individual ways they communicated their needs.

We found that staff treated people with respect and gained people's consent before they supported them.

We found that staff were aware of safeguarding procedures and knew how to keep people safe. People who used the service and their relatives told us they felt safe.

We spoke with staff and found that they felt supported by their manager and felt able to raise any issues.

We found that there was a system for monitoring the quality of the service, which included customer satisfaction surveys. We found that the service was not up to date with all its internal audits.

We found that some records kept by the provider were not accurate.

We gathered evidence of people's experiences through speaking with two relatives of people who use the service. We spoke with two members of staff for Heart of England Mencap DCA Studley.

Relatives we spoke with told us that the care received matched the care that was discussed with them for their family member. They told us that they were involved in planning the care and that reviews were held to reassess people's needs. We saw that relatives had provided information on their family member for the care plan.

We saw that the care plans were person centred and reflected people's needs. This meant that the care plan was based on the needs of the person. We saw that people's needs were reassessed and where necessary the care plan was updated.

Relatives we spoke with told us that staff were polite and professional. Relatives told us that it was usually the same members of care staff who provided their family member's personal care. Continuity of staff should mean that people receive their care consistently as staff have an increased understanding of people's needs.

We spoke with staff about what they thought abuse was and they showed they had a good awareness of the importance of keeping people safe. They understood their responsibilities for reporting any concerns regarding abuse.