Background to this inspection
Updated
7 February 2020
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection was completed by one inspector and one 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.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. We also wanted to speak with people using the service and needed the service to ask people’s consent for us to contact them.
What we did before the inspection
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We also looked at all the information we have collected about the service. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with 11 people who used the service and five relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four members of staff including the registered manager, care workers and care assessors. We reviewed a range of records. This included six people’s care records and medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
Updated
7 February 2020
About the service
The Community Reablement Team (CRT) is part of the Intermediate Care Service which is delivered in partnership by Reading Borough Council and Berkshire Healthcare Foundation Trust. CRT provides a short-term flexible service for up to six weeks, for people who have been assessed as being able to benefit from a reablement programme. The service is delivered in people's own home or at the intermediate residential care centre. The service was supporting 98 people at the time of this 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.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People we spoke with told us they felt safe using the service. People were cared for by staff who knew how to keep them safe and protect them from avoidable harm. There were enough staff available to meet people's needs. People were supported to take their medicines independently where able. Incidents and accidents were reported, investigated and actions taken to prevent recurrence.
People’s needs were assessed, and care plans were in place. People were cared for by staff who had been trained to carry out their roles and who were knowledgeable about the support people needed. 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 told us they were cared for by kind and compassionate staff. People told us staff respected their privacy and dignity.
Staff were knowledgeable about people’s support needs as well as people’s preferences for how they were cared for. People’s feedback was sought. Complaints were reported, investigated and resolved appropriately.
Systems were in place to monitor the quality of care provided and continuously improve the service. Staff spoke highly of the provider and said it was a good place to work. The service worked closely with other health and social care teams.
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 12 July 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
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.