25 January 2017
During a routine inspection
There was 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.
People and their relatives were complimentary about the staff and their caring approach. They told us staff respected people’s dignity and privacy. The staff team worked well with people, their relatives and other professionals to ensure people received support that met their assessed needs. People told us staff had sufficient skills and knowledge to carry out their jobs effectively. Staff felt well supported in their roles and told us they worked well as a team.
People told us they felt safe when they were being supported by the Community Voice team. Risks to people’s individual needs and their health and safety had been identified and actions had been taken to manage these. Appropriate arrangements were in place to ensure people were supported with the safe management of their prescribed medicines.
People were supported by staff who were aware of the whistleblowing policy and safeguarding process. Staff knew how to ensure that people were protected if they suspected people were at risk of abuse. There were sufficient numbers of staff employed to provide care to the people using the service and people benefitted from consistency of staff. Records confirmed recruitment checks had been carried out to ensure only staff that were suitable were employed to work with people.
People benefitted from staff that were familiar with the Mental Capacity Act and their responsibilities regarding it. Staff supported people to maintain a good diet and people’s nutritional needs were assessed and recorded in their care files.
People and their relatives were involved in the care planning process. People received care and support to meet their individual needs. People told us they knew how to raise concerns and had opportunities to provide feedback on the quality of the service received.
The provider had effective quality assurance processes in place to monitor the service provided and an ongoing action plan to support continuous improvement. The team demonstrated a positive culture and a strong commitment to delivering a high quality support.