Archived: Kids Lincoln Office

Updated 24 October 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. It provides a service to children and younger adults. At the time of inspection 33 children and young people were using the service.

There was a manager in post who had registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the registered 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 a short period of notice of our inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Our inspection activity started on 4 October 2019 and ended on 09 October 2019. We visited the office location on 08 October 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we held about the service, for example, statutory notifications. A notification is information about events which the provider is required to tell us about by law.

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We took this into account in making our judgements in this report. We contacted local authority service commissioners and Healthwatch to seek their feedback. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We made telephone contact with six of the relatives of people who used the service in order to ask them about their and their family members experience of using the service and three of the care staff team.

When we visited the services office, we spoke with the registered manager, two care staff and the services co-ordinator. We reviewed a range of records. This included specific sections related to six people's care records. We looked at five staff files to check staff recruitment and their training records. We also reviewed records relating to the management of the service and a variety of policies and procedures developed and implemented by the registered provider.

After the inspection

Following our inspection visit we continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to support and validate the evidence we found during our inspection. The registered manager and area manager provided us with additional policy and procedural information as part of this process.

Updated 24 October 2019

About the service

Kids Lincoln Office provides personal care and support services to children and young people who live with physical and/or learning disabilities in their family homes. The service also provides support to enable people to participate in activities at home and within the local community.

Not everyone who uses the services provided by Kids Lincoln Office received personal care. CQC only inspect the part of the service where people receive personal care. This is in relation to help with tasks which focus care needs such as maintaining personal hygiene, support with medication and eating. Where they do provide personal care, we also consider any wider social care provided.

At the time of our inspection the service was providing support to 33 children and their families.

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

People were cared for by staff who understood how to safeguard them from the risk of harm. Risks to people's health, safety and welfare had been assessed and management plans were in place to minimise any identified risks.

The registered provider employed enough staff to make sure people's needs and wishes were met. Staff were recruited safely and trained to carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively.

Staff were consistent in meeting people’s health care and nutritional needs. Staff worked together, and with other professionals, in co-ordinating people's care.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported people in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Information was accessible to involve people in making decisions about their lives.

Staff had a good understanding of the needs of the people they cared for and treated people with kindness and their dignity and privacy was respected.

People and their relatives were involved in reviewing their care and making any necessary changes.

The service was consistently managed, and the registered provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service. Communication was effective and people and staff were listened to. Staff said they felt well-supported and were aware of their rights and their responsibility to share any concerns they had, including about the care they provided.

Processes were in place to manage and respond to complaints and concerns. There were opportunities for people, relatives and staff to give their views about the service.

The registered provider undertook a range of audits to check on the quality of care provided. Actions were taken, and improvements needed were made quickly when required.

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 1 October 2018 and this was our first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the need to give a rating for the service.

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.

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