Chilmington at Home

Chilmington at Home is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people. The service provides support to autistic people, people with a learning disability or people with a physical disability. At the time of our inspection there were 3 people using the service.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support:

People had mental capacity assessments in place for some individualised decisions, however there was not always evidence of these having taken place prior to the inspection in relation to potential restrictive practices such as bed rails. During the inspection, this was rectified by the registered manager and deputy manager. 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. The service supported people to have control and independence over their own lives. People were supported by staff to pursue their interests and work towards their aspirations and goals. Staff supported people to play an active role in maintaining their own health and wellbeing.

Right Care:

The services mandatory training was not in line with best practice. Some staff had not received moving and handling training since July 2021. The area manager ensured staff who had outstanding training had a date arranged for the training after the inspection had taken place. The service had not yet implemented Oliver McGowan training (training to ensure staff have the right skills and knowledge to provide safe, compassionate and informed care to autistic people and people with a learning disability) to all staff. The area manager advised this will be implemented in the coming months. People received kind and compassionate care from staff and this was observed during the inspection. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to people’s individual needs. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

Right Culture:

Staff turnover was very low, which supported people to receive consistent care from staff who knew them well. Staff placed people’s wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did. People and those important to them, were involved in planning their care. Staff evaluated the quality of support provided to people, involving the person and other professionals as appropriate. People’s quality of life was enhanced by the service’s culture of improvement and inclusivity. Staff ensured risks of a closed culture were minimised so that people received support based on transparency, respect and inclusivity.

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 3 May 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Recommendations

We recommended the provider reviews their mandatory training in order to ensure it is in line with best practice.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Chilmington at Home is a domiciliary care agency providing care support for three adults with a learning disability within a supported living setting where they share a house with another person who receives support from other services. Each person has their own tenancy and individual funding for different levels of care and support based on the local authority’s needs. assessment. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

Rating at last inspection.

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

Why the service is rated good.

The service continued to provide people with safe, effective care which met their needs. People were kept as safe as possible through robust staff recruitment, effective training, staff support and monitoring. Potential risks were assessed and where necessary, action taken to minimise them. People were supported, where necessary, to receive their prescribed medicines appropriately.

People’s rights and freedom were respected and supported. 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 received appropriate support related to nutrition and hydration and their healthcare needs were well met through liaison with external health professionals.

Staff were kind and caring and treated people with respect. People’s dignity, privacy and rights were supported in the ways staff supported them.

People’s and families views were sought and listened to. Relatives felt their opinions were valued and any concerns were addressed.

People were supported to attend events and activities in the community when this was part of their care plan. Care plans were person centred and regularly reviewed, with input from people and, where appropriate, their families.

Relatives and external professionals all felt the service was well led and run in the interests of the people it supported. The service advocated strongly on behalf of those supported and worked very effectively with external care and health agencies.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

People were safe and the provider had procedures in place to identify any risks to the vulnerable adults supported. Staff had been trained on safeguarding.

Appropriate procedures and training were in place where the provider was involved in supporting people with medication. People were encouraged to manage this for themselves or with family support where possible.

The agency had a thorough recruitment and selection system and maintained appropriate records of the process. Staff received a thorough induction and completed the necessary core and specialist training to support their role.

The manager had systems to monitor the operation of the service and the views of the people being supported were sought and acted upon. People were very happy with the support they received.