Background to this inspection
Updated
7 April 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 1 February 2016 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service for younger adults who are often out during the day; we needed to be sure that someone would be in.
The inspection team consisted of one inspector. Before the inspection we requested and received a Provider Information Return (PIR) from the service. A PIR 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 previous inspection reports and notifications we had received. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law. We also reviewed a report from the local authority monitoring team who visited in September 2015.
During the inspection we spoke with five people who were living at the service and one relative. We also spoke with five staff including the registered manager and deputy manager. We looked around the service and observed the way staff interacted with people.
We looked at three people’s care records and risk assessments. We looked at three staff files to review recruitment, supervision and training records. We looked at audits for maintenance and safety. We reviewed audits and minutes of residents meetings and staff team meetings
Updated
7 April 2016
We inspected Quarriers on 1 February 2016. This was an announced inspection because we wanted to be sure people would be in the service.
Quarriers, is a supported living service that provides personal care and support to people with varying support needs. Supported living is where people live in their own home and receive care and/or support in order to promote their independence. The care received is regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), but the accommodation is not. It aims to enable the person to be as independent as possible, and usually involves social support rather than medical care. The service covers the Swindon area and currently provides support to 18 people.
There was a registered manager at the service at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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 atmosphere was relaxed and we saw that staff interacted with each other and the people who used the service in a person centred way and were encouraging, friendly, positive and respectful. People and staff said they felt there were enough staff to support them.
People’s care plans were written clearly and in a person centred way and had personal histories and described individuals care, treatment, wellbeing and support needs. These were regularly reviewed and updated by the care staff and the registered manager.
Care records also contained risk assessments. These identified any risks related to each person and described the measures and interventions to be taken to ensure they were protected from the risk of harm. The care records we viewed also showed us that people’s health was monitored and referrals were made to other health care professionals where necessary for example: their GP or mental health team.
Observations during the inspection showed us that people who use the service were supported in a person centred way by sufficient numbers of staff to meet their individual needs and wishes. The recruitment process that we looked at was safe and inclusive and people chose their own support staff.
Staff felt supported. The staff we spoke with confirmed they attended a range of learning opportunities. They told us they had regular supervisions with the registered manager, where they had the opportunity to discuss their care practice and identify further mandatory and vocational training needs. Training records showed staff were supported to maintain and develop their skills through training and development opportunities.
Medicines were managed in a safe way. We looked at how records were kept and spoke with the registered manager about how staff were trained to administer medication and we found that the medication administering process was safe.
During the inspection it was evident that the staff had a good rapport with the people who used the service and we heard and observed positive interactions taking place.
People were encouraged to plan and participate in activities that were personalised and meaningful to them. We saw evidence of other activities such as social groups and people being supported to be involved in their local community both with support and independently.
People were encouraged to plan and follow a healthy diet. People were helped to plan what to shop for and ideas for healthy meals to cook.
We saw a complaints procedure was in place and this provided information on the action to take if someone wished to make a complaint and what they should expect to happen next. People also had access to advocacy services and safeguarding contact details if they needed it.
We found that the service had been regularly reviewed through a range of internal and external audits. We saw that action had been taken to improve the service or put right any issues found. We found people who used the service and their representatives were regularly asked for their views via an annual quality survey to collect feedback about the service.