5 August 2016
During a routine inspection
At the time of our inspection there were 45 people receiving personal care from this service.
There was a registered manager employed. 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 they felt safe at the service. Staff were confident about how to protect people from harm and what they would do if they had any safeguarding concerns.
There were good systems in place to make sure that people were supported to take medicines safely and as prescribed.
Risks to people had been assessed and plans put in place to keep risks to a minimum. An ‘out of hours’ service was in place so that people could contact a member of staff in an emergency.
There were enough staff on duty to make sure people’s needs were met.
The provider had robust recruitment procedures to make sure staff had the required skills and
were of suitable character and background.
Staff told us they enjoyed working at the service and that there was good team work. Staff were supported through training, regular supervisions and team meetings to help them carry out their roles effectively.
Staff were supported by an open and accessible management team. They reported significant improvements to all areas of the running of the service since the new registered manager and location manager’s had taken been reorganised.
People told us that staff were caring and that their privacy and dignity were respected. People were treated with kindness and respect.
Care plans were person centred and showed that individual preferences were taken into account. The staff knew people well and knew how to provide their support. This meant people received personalised care.
People were supported to maintain their health and to access health services if needed.
The focus of the service was on promoting people’s rights and independence. People were given opportunities to gain skills to increase their independence. They made choices about their lives and the decisions they made were respected.
Where people were not able to make important decisions about their lives the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 were followed to protect their rights.
There were effective management arrangements in place. The registered manager had a good oversight of the service and was aware of areas of practice that needed to be improved. There were systems in place to look at the quality of the service provided and action was taken where shortfalls were identified.
A recommendation was made to review how medicines were managed in people’s home.
We made a recommendation that the service reviewed the way it shared confidential information with staff.