Archived: Enable Support Services

The agency provides a service to people in their own home that includes personal care and social support and prompting with daily activities.

There is a registered manager in post. 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 supported by the head of care services who shared the responsibility for the running of the service. The registered manager and head of care services had specialised knowledge and qualifications to support people with mental health needs and learning disabilities. The care and support the service offered enabled people to manage their lives and remain independent in the community. The service carried out work commissioned by the local authority and this included supporting older people.

People said they were supported by kind and caring staff. One person said “They are always so kind. I call them my family. I think a lot of them. There are some I would like to see more of. I get on really well with (regular care staff.) Another person said they were very satisfied with the service which they had received for several years. They said the service helped them to do what they wanted to and staff were kind and always showed her respect.

People received care that was responsive to their needs and personalised to their wishes and preferences. People were able to make choices about how the service supported aspects of their day to day lives. They were able to choose how much support they required and when it was delivered.

People received support up to four times a day seven days a week. Others requested a single regular daily visit care or assistance once or twice a week. The agency aimed to accommodate people’s wishes. Personal care was supplemented by support with cleaning and shopping which is not inspected by us but formed an essential part of the person’s support “package.”

People told us they felt safe with the staff who supported them. One person said “They have never let me down.” All staff understood their role in maintaining a safe environment for people and the importance of being alert to any possible abuse or if people were at risk of neglecting themselves.

People said they received care from regular staff who had time to care for them. This was because there were appropriate numbers of staff employed to meet people’s needs and provide a flexible service. Staff were able to accommodate changes to appointments as requested by the person who used the service or their relatives.

People received support with medicines according to their needs. People were prompted to take medicines and staff understood how important this was.

Some people received help from the agency to maintain their nutritional needs. When their care commenced the arrangements to provide them with a diet that met their needs and wishes was assessed. This meant some people received meals from a family carer whilst others were independent following assistance with shopping. Some people had a regular lunch visit to provide them with a hot meal, some company and a daily check on their well-being.

People received support from staff who had received regular training. Staff were knowledgeable about their roles and responsibilities. They had the skills, knowledge and experience required to support people with their care and support needs.

There was always a senior member of staff on duty or on call to give support to people and staff Both staff and people who received a service commented on the availability of the head of care services and supervisors who visited them regularly to ensure support was being delivered in a skilled way.

The registered manager and head of care services had a clear vision for the service they wanted to supply to people. They kept their skills and knowledge up to date by on-going training and reading.

Their vision and values were communicated to staff through regular contact and often by going out and working with staff or meeting with people receiving a service. They were pro-active in developing the service and had sort professional support to assist their plans.

There were systems in place to develop and monitor the quality of the service. Staff regularly spoke with people to ensure they were happy with the service they received. There was evidence people were positive about the service. They commented on staff reliability and kindness.