All inspections: South Short Term & Urgent Support

On the day of our inspection we spoke with the registered manager and two locality managers. Following the inspection we spoke with six home support workers and with 20 people who had either recently used the service or were currently using the service, or where appropriate, their representative.

The registered manager told us the service provided care and support for between 90 and 140 people each week. They told us the provider offered three separate services; a rapid response team integrated with intermediate care, a reablement service and a service for people living with long term conditions requiring short term intervention due to an exacerbation or acute episode.

The manager told us most of the service's referrals came from other health care professionals, for example; social workers and G.P's. They also told us the Reablement part of the service which helped people regain their independence, formed the biggest part of their work.

The manager explained the service had seven locality managers. They told us the locality manager role included completing initial assessments, case management and managing their staff team. They said the provider also had nine home support co-ordinators whose responsibilities included the scheduling and allocation of staff and work. The manager told us the provider currently employed approximately 125 home support workers who were responsible for the delivery of care and support to people who use the service.

On the day of our inspection, the service was not located at the address named on this report. The manager told us the service was currently using a temporary address and said it was likely this may change again soon. We discussed with the manager the need for the registered person and the provider to notify us of any changes to the regulated service. However, this did not affect any aspect of the delivery of care and support to people who use the service.

People who used the service were encouraged to make decisions about their care and support.

The reablement support plans we looked at provided information as to the persons identified support needs.

Effective systems were in place to reduce the risk and spread of infection.

The provider completed a series of pre-employment checks prior to employment to make sure potential candidates were suitable and safe to work with people.

The manager told us the provider sent out monitoring feedback forms to people who used the service. We saw the analysis showed the overall satisfaction with the reablement and support service was 88%.

Comments from the 20 people we spoke with were all complimentary. Their comments;

'The care was fantastic.'

'They would always help with an extra task to make X's life better.'

'I would give them five stars.'

We spoke with three people who use the service and these are some of the things they told us:

'Nothing is too much trouble.'

'The staff are brilliant.'

'No complaints whatsoever, I am very happy.'

We also looked at the nine compliment letters that the service had received during June and up to 19 July 2012. These are some of the comments people had made;

'All staff were helpful, they helped me gain confidence and were all very friendly.'

'My main carer has been very caring, considerate and experiences. It has been a pleasure to have met them and I will miss their cheerful manner.'

'The care workers are very good and cheerful. They were very kind when I came out of hospital.'

'We have been extremely satisfied with the help we have had during my relatives illness. We could not have managed without your help and kindness.'

'My carers have been fantastic, caring, gently patient and kind. I couldn't have wanted more.'

'Thank you very much for looking after me, I'll miss you.'

'Regarding my carers I wish to thank them for all their kindness to me.'

'I appreciate all of the help given and the friendly attitude of the carers.'

'Thank you for your help, the carers were lovely, very helpful. I am now on my feet again and doing things for myself.'

We spoke with six members of staff who were all very enthusiastic about the service they provide and gave good examples of how their support has enabled people to regain their independence.

Archived: South Short Term & Urgent Support

All Inspections

29 January 2014

During a routine inspection

19 July 2012

During a routine inspection