Archived: East Kent Mencap (Swale)

The service provides care and support for up to four years to enable up to three people with learning disabilities to develop their independence skills and move into their own home. The three people using the service shared a house for which they held a tenancy. The staff supporting them were managed from an office in the Seashells Children and Families Centre.

People who used the service had low care needs and were supported to develop their daily living skills in a supported environment. People directed their own support and made daily choices about their routines. Staff stayed with people in their home overnight, but were not with people all of the time during the day. At the time of our inspection no personal care was being delivered. However, the delivery of personal care remained a key element of the service provided and was dependent on the levels of care or support people needed from day-to-day.

A registered manager was employed at the service. 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 registered manager was not always based at the office. However, a locality manager was, and they were in day-to-day charge of running the service effectively.

People made their own decisions about their care or day to day medical treatment. The registered manager ensured they followed the principals of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 when assisting people with making decisions about non-routine financial and medical issues. Decisions were arrived at lawfully, in people’s best interest and were fully recorded.

People were kept safe by experiencing and learning the skills they needed to manage their own lives. Staff had received training about protecting people from abuse and understood their responsibilities to protect people living with learning disabilities from harm. Each person had a key worker who assisted them to learn about safety issues such as how to stay safe in the community and at home. The management team had access to and understood the safeguarding policies of the local authority and followed the safeguarding processes.

Staff used their experience and knowledge of supporting people with learning disabilities effectively. Staff assessed people as individuals, listened to people’s views and supported people to plan and choose their own lifestyles. This ultimately enabled people to maintain their safety, health and wellbeing. People had communication and health action plans to assist external health and social care professionals understand people’s needs. For example, if they were admitted to hospital.

Risks were assessed, both for individual people and for the wider risk from the environment. Staff assisted people to understand the steps to be taken to minimise risk when they were identified. The provider’s policies and management plans were implemented by staff to protect people from harm.

There were policies and procedures in place for the safe administration of medicines. Staff had been trained to administer medicines safely. Staff were not routinely administering medicines, but when needed followed these policies and used them as guidance to assist people to manage their own medicines safely.

People were registered with a GP and their health and wellbeing was supported by staff who assisted them to access medical care if they became unwell. Good quality records were kept to assist people to monitor and maintain their health. People had been supported to understand their health conditions and had been given information to help them manage their own health and wellbeing.

People described staff that was welcoming and friendly. Staff provided friendly compassionate care and support. People directed their own care and were encouraged to get involved in how their care was planned and delivered. Staff were deployed to enable people to participate in community life, both within the service and in the wider community.

Staff upheld people’s right to choose who was involved in their care and people’s right to do things for themselves was respected. People were being consulted about how they wanted to live their lives and staff respected this.

The manager involved people in planning their care by assessing their needs when they first moved in and then by asking people if they were happy with the care they received. Staff knew people well and people had been asked about who they were and about their life experiences. Records about people’s early lives were comprehensive. This helped staff deliver care to people as individuals.

Systems were in place to monitor incidents and accidents to see what steps could be taken to prevent these happening again. Managers ensured that they had planned for foreseeable emergencies, so that should they happen people’s care needs would continue to be met. The premises and equipment in the service were well maintained to promote safety.

Recruitment policies were in place. People were involved in choosing the staff that would support them. Safe recruitment practices had been followed before staff started working at the service. The registered manager recruited staff with relevant experience and the right attitude to work well with people who had learning disabilities. New staff and existing staff were given extensive induction and on-going training, which included information specific to learning disability services.

Staff received supervisions and training to assist them to deliver a good quality service and to further develop their skills. The registered manager ensured that they employed enough staff to meet people’s assessed needs.

People were supported to make healthy lifestyle choices around eating and drinking and received their own formal certificated training in these areas.

There were no barriers to people asking for what they wanted or speaking to the registered manager and staff if they wanted to raise an issue. People were being asked frequently if they were unhappy about anything in the service. This included meetings with care managers from social services. If people wanted to complain there was a policy that would ensure they were listened to.

The registered manager and staff demonstrated a desire to deliver a good quality service to people by constantly listening and improving how the service was delivered. People and staff felt that the service was well led. They told us that managers were approachable and listened to their views. The registered manager of the service and other managers provided good leadership so that the stated aims and values of the service were met. People assisted the provider and registered manager in developing business plans to improve the service and through their representatives on the providers board of trustees.