Background to this inspection
Updated
30 July 2016
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
The inspection visit took place on 6 July 2016 and was announced. This service was inspected by two inspectors. The provider was given two days’ notice of our inspection because the charity provides care to people in their own homes. The notice period gave the manager time to arrange for us to speak with them and staff who worked for them.
We reviewed information received about the service, for example the statutory notifications the service had sent us. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send to us by law. We also contacted the local authority commissioners to find out their views of the service. These are people who contract care and support services paid for by the local authority. Before the inspection the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We found the PIR reflected the service provided.
Before our inspection visit the provider sent us a list of people who used the service. We sent questionnaires to 12 people or their relatives, 24 members of staff and 8 community professionals. We received responses back from 2 people, 3 staff and 4 community professionals.
We contacted people who used the service and their relatives to obtain their views of the service they received. We received two responses from relatives of people who used the service on behalf of their family members.
During our inspection visit we spoke with two care co-ordinators, the registered manager and the operations director. Following our inspection visit we contacted 5 care staff via email to gather their feedback about the service, we received two responses.
We reviewed three people’s care records to see how their care and support was planned and delivered. We checked whether staff had been recruited safely and were trained to deliver the care and support people required. We looked at other records related to people’s care and how the service operated including the service’s quality assurance audits and records of complaints.
Updated
30 July 2016
This inspection visit took place on 6 July 2016 and was announced. The provider was given two days’ notice of our inspection visit to ensure the manager and care staff were available when we visited the agency’s office.
The service was last inspected in July 2014 when we found the provider was compliant with the essential standards described in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010.
Take-a-Break is a registered charity and domiciliary care agency providing ‘respite’ care for young adults and children in their own homes and in their local community. People who used the service were offered support on a 'respite' basis only; this meant the charity provided support to people on short term contract arrangements. People received a range of support through a number of hours per week. On the day of our inspection visit the charity was providing support to 13 people with 14 members of care staff.
The service had a registered manager. 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. We refer to the registered manager as the manager in the body of this report.
People felt safe using the service and there were processes to minimise risks to people’s safety. These included procedures to manage identified risks with people’s care and for managing people’s medicines safely. Care staff understood how to protect people from abuse and keep people safe. The character and suitability of care staff was checked during recruitment procedures to make sure, as far as possible, they were safe to work with people who used the service.
Care staff received an induction when they started working for the service and completed regular training to support them in meeting people’s needs effectively. People told us care staff had the right skills to provide the care and support they required. Support plans and risk assessments contained relevant information for staff to help them provide the care people needed in a way they preferred.
Care staff were supported by managers through regular meetings to discuss their performance and development. There was an out of hours on call system in operation, which ensured management support and advice was always available for staff during their working hours. The manager understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA), care staff respected people’s decisions and gained people’s consent before they provided personal care.
There were enough care staff to ensure people were cared for safely. We had mixed feedback about whether there were enough staff to support people as they wished. Staffing levels were determined based on short term ‘respite’ breaks. This meant people were not put at risk if staff were unavailable to deliver the service. People told us care staff were caring, kind and knew how people liked to receive their care.
People told us communication could be improved regarding staffing levels and their agreed packages of care. The manager and provider was acting to improve their service by reviewing existing care packages and what they could offer to people. Staffing levels had recently been changed along with care packages.
People knew how to complain and information about making a complaint was available for people in their homes. Care staff said they could raise any concerns or issues with the managers. Identified concerns were acted upon by the manager and provider.
There were systems to monitor and review the quality of service people received and to understand the experiences of people who used the service. This was through regular communication with people and staff, spot checks on care staff and a programme of other checks and audits. Where issues had been identified, the provider acted to make improvements.