The People Care Team

People’s experience of using this service:

There was little oversight and monitoring of the quality of the service delivered. Checks and audits were not effective and robust. Feedback about the quality of service was requested, however the results were not analysed or shared with people and staff.

Risks to people were not consistently assessed, reviewed and updated. This had not had a negative impact on people, however there was a risk that people may not be protected. We have made a recommendation about this.

There were not always enough staff to provide people with the support they needed when they wanted it. The shortage of staff had led to some people’s calls being changed at the last minute and they had not been informed of the changes. The provider was recruiting new staff to address this.

People were supported by staff who were recruited safely and knowledgeable and trained in their roles.

People were supported to remain as healthy as possible and staff worked with health care professionals to ensure care was consistent.

People told us they received good care and felt safe having staff from The People Care Team coming in to support them.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People said the staff were kind and caring. They said, “[The staff] chat to me and are wonderful company. They are very, very good” and “[The staff] are all excellent. They are very jolly and always polite”.

People knew how to complain and were given the opportunity to feedback about the quality of service they received.

People and staff had confidence in the new management structure. One staff commented, “It is definitely on the up since [the manager] took over”.

Rating at last inspection: Good when inspected on 02, 03 and 04 November 2016 (report published 29 November 2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor this service and plan to inspect in line with our inspection schedule for those services rated as Requires Improvement.

The service met the characteristics of Requires Improvement. For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

The inspection was announced and took place on 2, 3 and 4 November 2016.

The service had 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People felt safe and were protected from the risk of abuse. Staff were knowledgeable about the risks of abuse and there were suitable systems in place for recording, reporting and investigating incidents. Risks to people’s safety had been assessed and staff used these to assist people to remain as independent as possible. Staff numbers were based upon the amount of care that people required, in conjunction with their assessed dependency levels. Staff had been recruited using effective recruitment processes so that people were kept safe and free from harm. Medicines were administered, handled and recorded safely.

Staff were knowledgeable about the needs of individual people they cared for. They supported people to make choices about their care and daily lives. Staff attended a variety of training to keep their knowledge and skills up to date. They were further supported with supervision by senior staff. There were policies and procedures in place in relation to the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. Staff knew how to use them to protect people who were unable to make decisions for themselves. People could make choices about their food and drink. They were provided with support when required to prepare meals if this was an assessed part of their package of care. Prompt action was taken in response to illness or changes in people’s physical and mental health. They were supported to access health care professionals when required.

People told us that staff treated them in a friendly and caring manner, with kindness and compassion, and cared for them according to their individual needs. Staff had a good understanding of people’s individual needs and worked hard to ensure they had choices based upon their personal preferences. People and their relatives were fully involved in making decisions and planning individual care. Staff were caring and ensured that people’s privacy and dignity was respected at all times.

People's needs were assessed prior to them being provided with care and support. Care plans were updated on a regular basis, or as and when people's care needs changed. People were supported to achieve goals that required planning and support from staff that knew them well. This meant that positive outcomes were achieved for people including feeling empowered, being able to support others, and being part of a wider community. People had been made aware of the complaints process and knew how to make a complaint if they needed to. The registered manager and senior staff reviewed the quality of care people received and encouraged feedback from people and their representatives, to identify, plan and make improvements to the service.

The service was well led by a passionate and dedicated registered manager, who was well supported by a proactive and self motivated staff team. The culture found within the service was one of positivism; the ethos demonstrated by the registered manager and staff was transparent and aimed at encouraging people to be as independent as possible. The registered manager and director were both committed to their work, providing strong leadership and leading by example, using challenges to drive future improvement and to ensure that people received person centred care. Staff were proud to work for the service and wanted to help develop and progress it so that it could be the very best it could be, following the same principles as the management and in the way they cared for and supported people.

The registered manager and director had a clear vision for the service and its future development. They were good role models and advocates for people and actively sought and acted upon people's views. They wanted the service to be influenced by the needs of the people it supported and were committed to providing high quality care that was personalised to people’s needs. Visions and values were cascaded to staff, which gave them an opportunity to share ideas, and exchange information about possible areas for improvements to the registered manager. Ideas for change were always welcomed, and used to drive improvements and make positive changes for people.

The registered manager worked hard to use quality monitoring systems and processes to make positive changes, drive future improvement and identify where action needed to be taken. All staff, irrespective of their role, wanted standards of care to remain high and so used the outcome of audit checks and quality questionnaires to enable them to provide good quality care. As a result of the positive atmosphere within the service, people and their relatives were placed firmly at the heart of the service, with all aspects of care being focused on them, their objectives and goals.