Archived: Valley Care & Support

Valley Care and Support provides personal care and support to older people who live their own homes .There were 12 people receiving support with personal care.

This was the first inspection of the service since it was registered with us.

There was a registered manager for 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.

People’s risk assessments were not regularly reviewed. Staff were not properly trained and this also included the important training updates. Staff had not received regular support to help them understand how to deliver good care in line with the provider’s policy.

Staff were not always recruited safely. All the relevant safety checks had not been completed before staff started work. Some files did not contain appropriate references and important safety checks to make sure they were safe to work at the agency. This put people at risk from unsuitable staff.

There was a risk that people may not have their medicines as prescribed due to lack of detail when recording administration.

Staff were not being regularly supported and developed. This meant that staff may not have the knowledge and skills to care and support people effectively.

The provider had no quality assurance systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided. Audit systems were not in place to monitor the quality of care and support.

There were systems in place to keep people safe through risk assessment and the management of risk to people. However, some areas of potential risk to people had not been assessed or recorded.

There were policies and procedures in place in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People’s consent was always sort when offering care and support. However staff showed a lack of understanding of how to ensure their practice was in line with the Act.

People were satisfied with care and support provided by the service. People told us they felt safe with staff who supported them. Relatives felt confident that staff responded to people's needs and ensured they lived in a safe place.

Staff had good knowledge of the needs of each person and the procedures they should follow to deliver care and support they needed. There were suitable arrangements in place to ensure that staff rotas were covered and people were visited as recorded in their care plans in the event of an emergency. Staff completed an induction when they started work.

People and their relatives told us staff were kind, friendly and caring. They told us staff ensured their privacy and dignity. Staff arrived on time and completed tasks before leaving. People and their relatives knew how to make a complaint if they were not happy about any aspect of the service.

We identified that the provider was not meeting regulatory requirements and was in breach of four Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.