Archived: Crossroads Together Cheshire West & Wirral

Crossroads Cheshire West and Wirral is a domiciliary care service providing care and support to people in their own homes. They were providing a service to 151 people including children at the time of the inspection. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of inspection, twenty-five people were receiving a regulated service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People were supported by staff that had been safely recruited and had received an induction and training suitable for their role. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and people told us regular staff visited them and had got to know them well.

People’s needs were assessed before they were supported by the service. Each person had a care plan that reflected their preferences and routines. Care plans held sufficient information to guide staff on how best to meet people’s needs and they were regularly reviewed and updated. People told us staff were kind, caring and compassionate. Staff had a good understanding of how to meet people’s individual needs.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People were protected from the risk of abuse. Safeguarding policies and procedures were in place and staff had received training on how to keep people safe. They told us they felt confident to raise any concerns they had about people’s safety.

Medication was managed safely. Staff who managed medication had completed the required training and had access to medicines policies and best practice guidelines to support their practice. Medication administration records (MARs) were fully completed and regularly reviewed. Staff had received infection control training and followed good practice to minimise the risk of infection being spread.

People’s privacy and dignity was respected and their independence promoted to the full. People spoke positively about the service and the staff that supported them. There were audit systems in place that identified areas for development and improvement. Governance systems were in place for the provider to have full oversight of the service.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 17 January 2017)

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

Crossroads Care Cheshire West Wirral and Shropshire is a domiciliary care service providing support to adults and children with physical and learning disabilities and autism. They were registered with the Care Quality Commission on 24 June 2014. The service provides carer breaks, respite support, children’s clubs, dementia clubs, and palliative care for people in their own homes. The service currently supports 250 people living within the local community.

There was a registered manager in place at this service. They had been registered for 11 months. 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 were very happy with the service provided and that the staff were "brilliant, caring and friendly. People said “The staff are excellent”, “I have no complaints”, “The staff are cheerful”, “The staff help me with personal care tasks and outings” and “Staff help me to maintain my independence".

Staff told us they enjoyed working at the service and providing support to people within the community. They said they were well supported by the staff in the office and the management team.

Care plans were well documented and up to date. They gave clear guidance to the staff team. Risk assessments were undertaken for a variety of tasks which included moving and handling, nutrition, falls and the environment. These were reviewed regularly and up to date. The management of medication was safe and people were supported with the medicines when required. This meant that clear and up to date information was available within the care plan documentation for the staff to enable them to appropriately support people who used the service.

Staff were aware of how to report a safeguarding concern. They were aware of the policies and procedures available to safeguard people and children from harm and told us they would not hesitate to report any concerns. Staff had received training in safeguarding adults and children from harm.

Staff had received a range of training that included moving and handling, safeguarding, medication and health and safety. A range of other training was available to the staff team. Staff told us that the training was good. Staff had access to supervision sessions and were invited to attend regular staff meetings.

Staff recruitment files showed that robust recruitment processes were in place. Staff attended an induction process prior to working alone in the community. Staff told us that they worked alongside an experienced staff member before going out alone. They confirmed the induction process was good and that they had the information they needed to perform their role. This meant that the people who used the service were supported by knowledgeable and skilled staff.

People had access to information about the service. They said that they knew the information was in their care folder and some people had read this. Other people said they were not bothered about the folder but knew the information was available. An initial home visit was undertaken by one of the care coordinators prior to the service starting. The purpose of the visit was to gather information about the person's needs and to plan people's care and support.

A complaints policy was available and each person had this information within the care folder. Processes were in place to deal with any complaints received.

Quality assurance processes were in place which included observations of staff to ensure that care and support standards were being maintained, reviews of people’s care and an annual questionnaire for people who used the service. Audits were undertaken in relation to the service provided and these monitored the services safety and effectiveness.