Burnley Pendle and Rossendale Domiciliary Services

This service provides care and support to people living in a number of ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support. At the time of the inspection, a total of 24 people were receiving care and support from the service.

At the last inspection, in March 2016 the service was rated as ‘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.

Appropriate recruitment procedures were followed to ensure prospective staff were suitable to work in the home. People received their medicines when they needed them from staff who had been trained and had their competency checked. Risk assessments were carried out to enable people to retain their independence and receive care with minimum risk to themselves or others. People were kept safe from abuse and harm and staff knew how to report any suspicions around abuse. Staff understood best practice for reducing the risk of infection.

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. Staff received effective training to meet people's needs. An induction and training programme was in place for all staff. A detailed assessment was carried out to assess people’s needs and preferences prior to them receiving a service. This meant that care outcomes were planned and staff understood what support each person required. People were supported with their healthcare and nutritional needs as appropriate.

Staff treated people with kindness and compassion in their day-to-day support. Staff knew people's needs well and people told us they valued and liked their support staff. People and their relatives were consulted as part of the person centred planning process and their views were acted upon. People's dignity and privacy was respected and upheld and staff encouraged people to be as independent as possible.

Care and support was planned and personalised to each person, which ensured they were able to make choices about their daily lives. The registered manager assured us people will be involved wherever possible in future reviews of their support plan. People were supported to plan and participate in activities that were personalised and meaningful to them. We noted people participated in a wide range of activities and had an activity planner to help them structure their time. People had access to a complaints procedure and were confident any concerns would be taken seriously and acted upon. Where people received end of life care this was planned and provided sensitively.

Systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service, which included seeking and responding to feedback from people and their relatives in relation to the standard of care and support.

Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Domiciliary Service is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own home. The service specialised in providing flexible support to people with learning disabilities living in the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale areas. At the time of the inspection 25 people were using the service.

The service was managed by 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 last inspected this service on 15 January 2014 and found it was meeting all legal requirements. During this inspection we found the service was meeting the current regulations.

People were happy with the service they received from Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Domiciliary Service. They told us they felt safe and secure using the service. Staff showed awareness of how to keep people safe and understood the policies and procedures used to safeguard people. Staff were also aware of the procedures to follow to ensure medicines were handled safely.

Individual support plans contained risk assessments. These identified risks and described the measures and actions to be taken to ensure people were protected from the risk of harm. The care records and health action plans demonstrated that people’s health was monitored and referrals were made to health care professionals where necessary for example: their GP or Speech and Language Therapist. People were supported and encouraged to have a healthy diet.

Safe recruitment practices were followed and appropriate checks were undertaken, which helped to ensure suitable staff were employed to care for people. There were sufficient numbers of staff to meet people’s needs. Staff were able to maintain and develop their skills by ongoing training. Staff spoken with confirmed they had access to a range of learning opportunities and told us they were well supported by the registered manager and management team.

Staff followed the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to ensure that people’s rights were protected where they were unable to make decisions for themselves.

Support records and risk assessments were person-centred and were an accurate reflection of people’s care and support needs. The support plans, person centred plans and one page profiles were written with the person, so they were able to influence the delivery of their care. The support documentation included the person’s likes and preferences and were reviewed to reflect changes to the person’s needs and circumstances.

All people spoken with told us the staff were kind and caring. During the inspection it was evident the staff had a good rapport with people using the service and we were able to observe the positive interactions that took place. We noted the staff were caring, encouraging and attentive when communicating and supporting people.

People were supported to plan and participate in activities that were personalised and meaningful to them. We noted people participated in a wide range of activities and had an activity planner to help them structure their time.

People were aware of how they could raise a complaint or concern if the needed to and had access to an easy read complaints procedure.

The registered manager provided clear leadership and direction and was committed to continuous improvement. People and staff spoken with had confidence in the registered manager and felt the service was well managed. We found there were systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service, which included feedback from people using the service.

People's care and support was planned and delivered in accordance with their needs. People had detailed individual support plans which were underpinned by a series of risk assessments. People told us they discussed their needs with staff and had been fully involved in the development and review of their plans.

New staff were thoroughly checked before they started working for the service. This meant the provider ensured staff were suitable to work with people using the service.

Staff were provided with appropriate training opportunities and received regular supervision. This meant staff had the right skills and knowledge to carry out their role effectively.

There were systems in place to monitor and assess the quality of the service, which included regular checks and audits.