Archived: Independant Living Services

People's improved care records included personalised guidance for staff on meeting people's safety and welfare needs. This meant that the service was enabling staff to meet these needs.

The service's policies, procedures and risk assessments had been improved. This meant that people were being protected from the risk of abuse through a better understanding by staff of the potential risks to which people were exposed.

We found that sufficient numbers of staff were usually available to provide people's care.

We found although some improvements had been made, care was not planned and delivered in a way that ensured people's welfare and safety. This was because care planning and assessment of risk was inadequate and sufficient information was not available to guide staff about people's care.

We found that appropriate consent was not always being obtained for people's care. This was because where people could not make their own decisions, for example due to dementia or a learning disability, appropriate arrangements were not in place.

People receiving care from ILS were not adequately protected from abuse or neglect because risks were not identified and managed to ensure they were safe from harm. We found that staff were not fully aware of how to respond to any concerns about abuse.

We saw that where people were assessed to need support to take medication, arrangements were not ensuring they were protected from the risk of harm.

Another person told us that they knew most of the staff well and said, "They are respectful and generally on time."

We saw that a complaints procedure was in place and any complaints made were dealt with satisfactorily by the provider.

We found that staff were recruited using suitable procedures, including completing criminal records bureau checks, and that appropriate relevant records were kept.

We saw that people's consent was sometimes obtained for their care, but that this was not done consistently. We also saw that if people were unable to make decisions for themselves, for example due to dementia, that the appropriate procedures were not always being used to obtain and record consent for their care.

We found that although assessments were completed and there was some information in care files, that care planning systems did not fully describe people's needs or personalised ways of providing support. We also found that risks that could affect people were not always adequately assessed and managed. We also found that records did not always accurately describe the support people needed with their medication, and this could put them at risk. Because of this we found that people were not always fully protected from receiving inappropriate or unsafe care.