Background to this inspection
Updated
3 July 2019
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team:
One inspector undertook this visit.
Service and service type:
Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity 9 offers personal care and emotional support to children experiencing very serious illness. Support is given to both the children, their siblings, parents and when appropriate their extended family. Support is flexible to meet the changing needs of the children and their family.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection:
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small, and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.
Inspection site visit activity took place on the 20 May 2019 when we visited the office location to meet the registered manager and care workers; and to review care records and policies and procedures.
What we did:
Prior to our inspection we reviewed the previous inspection report and looked at notifications and information we had received about the service.
During our visit we looked at one child’s care records and three staff personnel files. This included their recruitment and training documents. We looked at the systems in place to audit and check the quality of the service provided. We met and spoke with the registered manager and two care workers. We watched a video of a relative speaking at the Trust’s national conference about the support they received from their Rainbow Trust Children's Charity 9 care worker. Following the inspection, we spoke with a third care worker and a relative who used the service.
Updated
3 July 2019
About the service: Rainbow Trust Children's Charity 9 provides personal care and emotional support to children experiencing very serious illness, resulting from birth abnormalities or onset of illness for other reasons. This is provided in people’s homes, hospitals and in the community. Care workers provide support to both the children and their family members. The provider operates eight registered services in England and this local service operates in the West London boroughs. The service was providing support to 127 children aged from birth to 19 years and their families. At the time of this inspection there was one child who might on occasion require personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People found this service good. They described the care workers as “Compassionate.” They provided care and support in a very flexible manner to meet the changing needs of the families they worked with.
The team’s five care workers were experienced and well trained. They specialised within the team and two were neonatal workers and three care staff worked with children and teenagers.
Care workers worked in partnership with healthcare professionals in hospital and the community. They also liaised with social care and housing professionals on behalf of families. They advocated on behalf of families and attended meetings, so the parent’s views could be heard.
The registered manager assessed that they had the staffing capacity to start working with new family referrals. Care workers had a case load of allocated families and built up a working relationship with them.
An initial assessment identified immediate support needs and assessed risks to children and the family. Care plans were reviewed on a frequent basis to reflect changing care needs. People’s diverse needs were supported. The Trust worked in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and obtained people’s consent to provide care and share information.
The registered manager and care workers had received safeguarding adult and children’s training. They demonstrated they would recognise signs and symptoms of abuse and knew how to report concerns.
The registered manager was described as “approachable” and “supportive” by staff and they audited and undertook checks to assure the quality of the service provided.
Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection on 6 and 12 October 2016 the rating was good overall.
Why we inspected: This was a scheduled inspection based on the previous rating of good.
Follow up: We will continue with ongoing monitoring and re-inspect in line with our ratings schedule unless we receive information that is of concern that might result in us bringing the inspection forward.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk