Archived: Disabled Children Service South- The Getaway

Disabled Children Service South - The Getaway provides personal care for children up to the age of 18. There was one person receiving a service in their own home.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People received an agreed level of staff support at a time they wanted it. People were happy with how the staff supported them and felt there were enough staff to meet their needs. Staff understood how to identify potential abuse and knew what action to take to keep people safe. Checks were carried out prior to staff starting work to ensure their suitability to work with people who used the service.

People chose how to spend their time and staff sought people’s consent before they provided care and support. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The staff received regular training that provided them with the knowledge and skills to meet people’s needs. People retained responsibility for managing their medicines and health care.

Staff had caring relationships with the people they supported which were respectful. They knew people well and provided care that met their preferences. People were treated with kindness and respect and staff promoted people’s independence and right to privacy.

People were supported to maintain their independence and were provided with opportunities to develop their interests and join in social activities. People chose how support was provided and they were involved in the review of their care. People knew how to report concerns and felt they would be listened to.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and plan ongoing improvements. Staff listened to people’s views about the service.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (Published 1 March 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

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

The family support service provides care and support to young people aged from 0 to 17 in their own homes. There is a service called The Getaway which provides short breaks for young people from the office base but this aspect of the service did not form part of this inspection because it is registered with another regulator. At the time of our inspection one person received support from the service.

There was a registered manager at the service. 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.

Care was planned and agreed with the people using the service and their relatives. The provider understood their responsibilities to ensure that consent to care was given. Reviews of care were planned and people and their relatives were confident that they could raise concerns or speak with staff and managers at any time.

Risks to people’s wellbeing was assessed and plans were put in place to reduce this to support them safely. Staff had the training and support that they needed to do their jobs well and people’s relatives felt that the care and support was safe. Staff developed caring relationships with people and ensured that they were respected.

There were enough staff to meet people’s needs safely and people were supported by regular staff that they knew well. There were safe recruitment procedures in place to ensure that they were safe to work with people. .

There was an open culture where people's relatives and staff said that managers were approachable and helpful. The manager was developing systems to monitor quality and drive improvement.

We spoke with three young people before they left to take part in their planned activities in the community. We spoke with and listened to a group of staff and the manager of the service. We spoke with four parents.

One parent told us, 'Going to The Getaway allows my child to be more independent. They are able to socialise with other young people who may have health needs in common with their own. As a parent it allows me to have a short break from direct care'.

Another parent told us they received regular feed back about how their young person was getting on at The Getaway each time they visited. One parent told us they did not feel they got the support and feedback they expected, although their young person seemed to enjoy going there. One parent told us about their young person's dietary needs. They told us care workers attended to their young person's needs well.

Parents told us their young person received one to one attention by care workers. They said this was good as it ensured the level of supervision needed was being provided. Parents told us when they visited they usually received feedback from the care workers on how their young person was managing as part of their care provision.