Archived: Making Space Domiciliary Care & Outreach Service

We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice of our intention to undertake an inspection. This was because the organisation provides a domiciliary care service to people in their homes; we needed to be sure that someone would be available at the office. Making Space Domiciliary Care & Outreach Service provides care and support to people who reside in supported tenancies or within their own homes and assist and encourage people to gain confidence in respect of their daily living skills. At the time of our inspection 10 people were receiving personal care in supported living services and 61 people received support with personal care from the domiciliary care service.

At the last inspection in December 2014, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered providers and registered managers 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 continued to receive care in ways which helped them to remain as safe as possible. Staff understood the risks to people’s safety and were able to respond to people's needs. Staff we spoke with recognised the different types of abuse. There were systems in place to guide staff in reporting any concerns. There were enough staff available to ensure people’s needs were met. People were supported to receive their medicines by trained staff who knew the risks associated with them.

The care people received continued to be effective. Staff received training which matched the needs of people they supported. People were supported to have choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice. Staff ensured people agreed to the support offered before assisting them. People were supported to eat and drink well when part of their identified needs. They were supported to stay well and access to health care services when they needed to.

People had built caring relationships with staff and were encouraged to make their own choices and maintain their independence. People were treated with dignity and staff were respectful to people’s wishes. People and their relatives said staff and management team were caring and kind.

People and their relatives’ views and suggestions were listened to. People’s care plans reflected their preferences and people told us the service adapted to meet their needs. Systems were in place to promote and manage complaints. The registered manager was proactive in contacting people and their relatives during times of change to ensure the service responses were tailored to people’s needs.

Staff were involved in meetings, to share their views and concerns about the quality of the service. People and staff said the management team were accessible and would take action when needed.

People, their relatives and staff were encouraged to make any suggestions to improve the care provided and develop the service further. Regular checks were in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service and action taken to drive through improvements for the benefit of people who were supported by the service.

We also observed staff who were providing support to people within a supported living unit. We noted that there was good communication and understanding between the members of staff and the people who were receiving care and support. The people we met appeared relaxed, comfortable and at ease with the staff. It was evident that staff had a good understanding of what was important to each person, for example preferred clothes, meals and social arrangements.

People told us they were fully involved with their care planning. Comments included; "Staff are good and they know what they are doing"; "Staff are jolly and lovely" and "I don't know where I would be without them."

Staff told us they received relevant on-going training and support to enable them to deliver safe, person centred care. Comments included; "I just love coming to work. I look forward to supporting the people who use this service" and "I feel very lucky to be employed by this service. The organisation supports me to work with vulnerable people and assist them to achieve their goals."

Records showed that the organisation had a variety of quality assurance systems available to assess the quality of the service it was providing to people.