Support & Independence Team - Central & Upper Valley 2

Support and Independence Team – Central and Upper Valley 2 is a domiciliary care service. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. However the service differs from other domiciliary care services as it is a short term reablement service which helps people regain their independence following periods of illness or time in hospital. People who use this service are not given specific visit times and the length of stay is dependent on the support they require at each visit. The service, provided by Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council, works in partnership with the local NHS foundation trust with the office based in Hebden Bridge Health Centre. Referrals to the service are usually from the community, Gateway to Care or following hospital discharge. At the time of our inspection 18 people were using the service.

People’s experience of using this service

People felt safe using the service describing staff as open, honest and trustworthy. Staff knew how to identify and report any abusive practice and confirmed training in safeguarding was provided annually. Sufficient staff were deployed to meet people’s needs and provide the support they wanted. Medicines were managed safely, by trained and competent staff.

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. Detailed assessments were completed prior to people starting the reablement process, which were used to create support plans. Staff completed regular training and received ongoing support, to ensure they could carry out their roles safely and effectively.

People spoke positively about the care and support provided. Staff were described as happy, caring and easy to get on with. One person stated, “Everyone of them has put themselves out to do things for me and support me, I am so pleased.” People were treated with dignity and respect and supported to regain as much independence as possible.

People received personalised care which was based around their needs and the goals they wanted to achieve. Reviews were completed to assess people’s progress and ensure their support plans remained relevant. People knew how to complain, though none we spoke with had needed to.

The service was well-led with a clear management structure in place. Staff enjoyed working for the service and were complimentary about the support provided to them. Management were described as approachable and always available. A range of systems were in place to assess the quality and safety of the service, with action plans completed to promote continuous improvement.

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 6 September 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 last inspection of this service took place in December 2015. The service was rated as ‘Requires Improvement’ but no breaches of regulation were identified.

The Support and Independence Team Upper Valley 2 is registered with the Care Quality Commission as a domiciliary care agency. However the service differs from other domiciliary care services as it is a short term reablement service which helps people regain their independence following periods of illness or time in hospital. People who use this service are not given specific visit times and the length of stay is dependent on the support they require at each visit. The service, provided by Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council, works in partnership with the local NHS foundation trust with the office based in Hebden Bridge Health Centre. Referrals to the service are usually from the community, Gateway to Care or following hospital discharge.

At the time of our inspection there were 9 people receiving personal care.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

People and relatives we spoke with praised the service provided and the staff. People told us staff were kind and supported them with encouragement and patience.

Medicines management was safe which helped ensure people received their medicines as prescribed.

Our discussions with staff showed they were committed to supporting people in regaining their independence. Staff were recruited safely and told us their induction and shadowing was comprehensive and prepared them for their roles. We saw staff received the training and support they required to meet people’s needs.

Staff had a good understanding of safeguarding and said they would not hesitate to report poor practice. People were given information about safeguarding.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives.

People’s care records provided detailed information about their needs and focussed on what people could do for themselves as well as the support they needed to meet their goals in regaining their independence.

Risk assessments showed any identified risks had been assessed and mitigated. We saw people had been involved in their support plans. There was full information about people’s needs, lifestyles, preferences and goals.

People were supported to access healthcare and benefited from a multi-disciplinary approach to promote recovery and independence.

People were supported with their nutrition when this was identified as a care need.

People we spoke with raised no concerns but knew the processes to follow if they had any complaints and were confident these would be dealt with.

Systems were in place to audit the quality of the service provided.

People, relatives and staff spoke highly of the way in which the service was run. They told us communication was very good. They told us about regular checks that were carried out to make sure people were happy with the support they received. The registered manager was actively seeking ways in which the service could develop.

During our inspection, we spoke with the manager; four support workers, five people who used the service and one relative.

Everyone we spoke with was complimentary about the service and quality of care provided.

One person who used the service told us; 'All I know is that they are brilliant and I could not have done what I have without them.' Another person told us; 'The Support and Independence Team are brilliant! I am really pleased with every one of them. They are just excellent and always go over and above what they need to do so that I have everything I need.' Everyone told us they knew the care staff and liked seeing 'the same friendly faces'.

The four support workers we spoke with told us the Support and Independence Team was a good team to work for and they felt the services provided were good.

There were procedures in place to protect people from abuse.

There were effective systems in place to ensure people who used the service were involved in decision making and to identify any areas for improvement. For example, quality assurance visits were carried out to ensure all required information was present in the people's homes and any quality issues were identified.