9th and 10th December 2014
During a routine inspection
This was an announced inspection carried out on 9th and 10th December 2014. This was the first time this service has been inspected by the Care Quality Commission
The service is registered to provide two services to people living in the community.
A night visiting service: This service operates 365 days per year between the hours are 9pm-6am. Three teams (four staff per team) operate in three distinct geographical locations of Doncaster (Central, North & East). The aim of the service is to provide an alternative to residential care for those people with an assessed need for support during the night. The service currently supports 49 people. The service provides support with assisting people with their toilet and hygiene needs, encouraging fluid intake, repositioning in bed, and assisting to bed.
A learning disability service: This service operates 365 day per year. It is a relatively small service with 10 support staff. The service supports 34 people. Each person lives in rented accommodation with up to 3 other people. As such the support plans reflect both individual support and joint support. Individual support includes assistance with maintaining personal hygiene, assistance with laundry, assistance with shopping and meal preparation. Joint/ individual support may include assistance with using public transport and using community facilities such as shopping, going to the cinema and other social events.
There is a registered manager which oversees both services. 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 told us they felt safe in their own homes and staff were available to offer support when needed to help them maintain their independence. One person (small group homes) said, “I like living here, we all get on very well, and staff are here when we need help with things.” Another person (night visiting service) told us, “The staff are very good. They pop in during the night to make sure I am safe, sometimes they will wake me but other times I don’t even know they have been. A relative we spoke with said, “My mum has visits during the night and it gives me peace of mind that she is safe. Staff know to contact me at any time if there is a problem.”
People who live in the small group homes told us about the range of activities that they were able to access. This included attending social centres and drama groups. One person told us about taking drum lessons while another person liked to be involved in drama groups and playing snooker. People maintained friendships and visited family independently using public transport.
People were able to plan their own meals and staff supported people to go shopping and preparing meals. People we spoke with told us they liked to eat healthy food and also liked to eat out at the local pub. One group told us how they were looking forward to meeting friends and having a Christmas lunch at a nearby pub.
People who lived in the small group homes were able to manage their medication independently. Staff supported them to order prescriptions and sometimes attended health appointments.
People were able to raise any concerns they may have had. We saw the service user guide included ‘how to make a complaint’ This was written in a suitable format for people who used the service.
People were encouraged to give their views about the quality of the care provided to help drive up standards. Quality monitoring systems were in place and the registered manager had overall responsibility to ensure lessons were learned and action was taken to continuously improve the service.