Archived: Smile Support & Care - Eastleigh

Updated 23 February 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.

This inspection took place on the 19 November 2015 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be available to speak with me.

Before the inspection, 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 reviewed the information in the PIR, along with other information that we held about the service including notifications. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law.

We spoke with three parents, three care staff and the registered manager. We looked at the support plans and risk assessments for four children as well as other associated documentation such as training records, staff recruitment files.

Updated 23 February 2016

This inspection took place on 19th November 2015 and was announced. The last inspection was in January 2014, and the service was compliant in all areas apart from consent to care and recruitment. We found that changes had been made and there are now appropriate assessments to show consent had been sought. There were also robust recruitment records on file, showing those working for Smile Support and Care services, had the appropriate checks and were suitable to have worked there.

Smile Support and Care services is a Domiciliary Care Agency which provides daily support and respite care for children and young adults. At the time of the inspection they were providing support for 24 children with a variety of care needs, including people with physical disabilities as well as mental health needs who required support with their personal care.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

The feedback we received from family’s members was mostly positive. They felt their children were safe with the care and support provided by the staff from Smile. The registered manager and staff were aware of their responsibility to provide the care and support to the child. There were systems in place to ensure the risks to the children’s safety and wellbeing were identified and addressed.

The registered manager ensured that staff had a full understanding of the children they were to be supporting, prior to them starting work with them. They knew the child’s care needs and ensured the staff had the appropriate skills and knowledge to be able to support them. Families felt safe and secure with the support they were currently receiving.

Parents said their children had positive relationships with the support workers and had ‘chosen’ the support worker for their child by looking at a matched portfolio. Parents felt their children were treated with respect and dignity and the staff were mindful of the child and families privacy.

Children received a service which was based on their personal needs and their family’s wishes. Changes in their care needs were identified and amended as required. The service was flexible to changes if they were requested.

The registered manager demonstrated the importance of effective quality assurance systems. They were part of a quality assurance team, which met every 5-6 weeks to look at different areas such as support plans and reviews and policies and procedures. The service was committed to continuous improvement and feedback from people whether it was positive or negative. This feedback would then be used and actions taken.

Staff were motivated and proud of the role they had. They said they felt fully supported by the registered manager and had received a full induction with training and supervision. Staff raised concerns that training was now online and struggled to find the time to complete this.