Support services for disabled children

Updated 5 April 2019

The inspection: We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.

Inspection team: An inspector completed this inspection.

Service and service type: This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to children and young people who are living with disabilities and are living in their own houses and flats .

Not everyone using Support services for disabled children receives a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by children and young people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. For people the provider helps with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating, we also consider any wider social care provided.

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 started on 19 February 2019 and ended on 1 March 2019. We visited the office location twice to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did: We assessed information we had received about the service, which included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse, feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service.

Providers are required to send key information about their service, what they do well and improvements they tend to make. This information helps support our inspections. The provider has not yet been asked to submit this information for this service.

During the inspection, we spoke with three parents and visited a young person and their family. Three of the young people had limited verbal communication skills and did not want us to visit.

Updated 5 April 2019

About the service: Support services for disabled children provides care at home services for 32 children and young people living with disabilities. Four young people needed assistance with their personal care and staff supported the remaining individuals to engage in a range of activities within the community.

People’s experience of using this service: Families as well as the young people stated they were very happy with the support they received. Staff worked very closely and sensitively with the young people and supported them to experience a wider range of activities as well as improve their daily living skills. People said the staff were friendly and made them feel at ease.

The children and young 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.

Staffing levels met people’s needs. Staff were well trained and knowledgeable about their roles and the care people needed. Staff received a wide range of training including how to work with children and young people.

Systems and processes were in place and closely monitored so the service was safe and run well. No one needed staff support to look after their medicines but staff were trained and regularly assessed to make sure they could do this if necessary. The registered manager and staff had robust risk assessments and acted appropriately to mitigate any identified risks.

Children and young people's rights were upheld. The young people’s guardians made the major decisions but when interacting with the young people, staff ensured they were given choices.

Staff effectively reported any safeguarding matters. The registered manager thoroughly investigated any concerns, and resolved these matters. All incidents were critically analysed, lessons were learnt and embedded into practice.

The service was well run. Staff, guardians, children and young people's views were gathered and used to inform developments at the service. The registered manager made sure that the staff were delivering a good service.

For more details, please see the full report which is on CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection: This was the first time the service was inspected.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.