Background to this inspection
Updated
5 July 2016
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
The inspection visit took place on 2 June 2016 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice of the inspection because the location provides a domiciliary care service. We needed to be sure that someone would be available to speak with us at the office. The inspection team included an inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Before the inspection visit, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also reviewed the information that we held about the service to inform and plan our inspection. This included information that we had received and statutory notifications. A statutory notification contains information relating to significant events that the provider must send to us.
We spoke with three people who used the service and twelve relatives. We also spoke with the care manager, a registered manager from another branch, the learning and development officer, a team leader and three care staff.
We looked at the care records of six people who used the service and four staff files. We also looked at other records in relation to the running of the service. These included the health and safety and quality checks that the manager had undertaken.
Updated
5 July 2016
We inspected the service on 2 June 2016 and the visit was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice of the inspection because the location provides a domiciliary care service. We needed to be sure that someone would be available to speak with us at the office.
Crossroads Care East Midlands provides personal care to people living in their own homes who have a variety of needs. These include older people, people who have a physical disability, people living with dementia and people who have a learning disability or Aspergers. At the time of our inspection 93 people were using the service.
The service had a registered manager. 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 and their relatives felt safe with the care offered. Staff understood their responsibilities to support people to keep safe and to protect them from abuse. They dealt with accidents and incidents appropriately. The provider had made sure that people were being protected from avoidable harm. Risk assessments were in place which set out how to support people in a safe manner.
People received support from staff who had been checked before they had started work. This had helped the provider to make safer recruitment decisions about the suitability of prospective staff.
People received their medicines as prescribed in a safe way. Staff were trained in how to administer people’s medicines and were checked for their competency to do so.
People were receiving support from staff who had the appropriate skills and knowledge. Staff received regular training. Care workers were supported through training and supervision to be able to meet the care needs of the people they supported. They undertook an induction programme when they started to work at the service.
People were being supported in line with the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. The provider had recorded where people had legal representatives to make decisions on their behalf. Staff understood their responsibilities under the Act and asked people’s consent before providing their care.
People were supported to maintain a balanced diet and had access to healthcare services when required. Staff knew how to monitor people’s health and to seek support when needed.
People received support from staff who showed kindness and compassion. Their dignity and privacy was being protected. Staff knew people’s communication preferences. People were being supported to be as independent as they wanted to be. People had been involved in decisions about their support.
People or their relatives had contributed to the planning and review of their support. People had care plans that were person-centred. This meant that the support people received was focused on them as individuals. Staff knew about the people they were supporting including their interests and hobbies.
People and their relatives knew how to make a complaint. The provider had a complaints policy in place and followed this when a complaint had been received.
People had opportunities to give feedback to the provider.
People and staff felt the service was well managed. The service was well organised and led by a registered manager who understood their responsibilities under the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009.
The provider carried out monitoring in relation to the quality of the service that people received.