Archived: Rainbow Trust Children's Charity 10

Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity 10 provides personal care and emotional support to children experiencing very serious illness, resulting from birth abnormalities or onset of illness for other reasons. The provider operates eight registered services in England and this local service operates in boroughs north of the river Thames. At the time of this inspection there were five children, living in four families, receiving a few hours personal care and emotional support each week.

People's experience of using this service:

The service placed the children and their families at the heart of the support they provided. Each family was provided with a package of support usually a few hours each week, however the amount of support provided was flexible and based on each child and their family’s current circumstances. Families we spoke with were highly complimentary about the abilities of all staff and their compassionate approach to care.

Staff were safely recruited, well trained and supported with core and personalised training programmes, which were geared to the specific needs of children and their families at any given time. Staff were aware of how to report any concerns about neglect or abuse. A member of staff told us they felt that they were part of an organisation that cared for them and their wellbeing, as well as the children and families they were supporting.

People were supported safely, and risks regarding their care were assessed and met. The service did not administer medicines to anyone, although if this was ever requested by a family it would be considered and the provider would ensure that staff had up to date training before doing this.

We saw clear evidence of caring relationships, which was viewed as a vital part of supporting children who were seriously ill and whose families also needed some practical, but largely emotional, support.

Regular audits about how the service was operating were carried out, as well as good communication between the staff team, which helped to maintain the high quality of the service.

More information is in the full report.

Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection in September 2016 the service had been rated as good in all key questions.

Why we inspected: This was a scheduled inspection, based upon the last rating.

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

Support is provided at family homes and within the wider community, for example at sibling support groups and specialist clinics held at hospital locations. The organisation will provide support at any stage of a child’s illness from diagnosis, during treatment and into bereavement. It is a free service but parents will be asked to pay for specific costs, for example children’s outings. At the time of the inspection the provider was supporting 40 families, which comprised 20 families that were receiving personal care and support services and other families that primarily participated in social activities for siblings.

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.

Parents informed us that they felt their children were safely supported by staff. Staff had received child protection training and understood how to identify any concerns. An individual care plan had been developed for each child with a life threatening or terminal illness, which demonstrated that the provider effectively worked in partnership with parents, and health and social care professionals. Risks assessments had been carried out to assess the risks to children’s safety for one to one care and support, and risks were assessed for group outings and social events.

The provider employed sufficient skilled and experienced staff to meet people’s needs. Robust pre-employment checks were conducted before staff were appointed, in order to determine whether staff were suitable to provide personal care and support for children and their families using the service.

Staff received appropriate training, supervision and support to effectively meet the needs of children and their families. Parents and health and social care professionals commented on the knowledgeable, competent and skilled approach of staff. The training included a thorough induction programme and courses that were relevant to the needs of children and their families. Staff were supported through the provision of monthly clinical and non-clinical supervision.

Parents told us that they were supported by compassionate and caring staff, who were kind, respectful and committed to providing a high standard of personal care and support. Parents provided examples of how the staff had responded in a flexible and individual way to the different needs within their families. For example, staff had looked after their other children so that they could take their child to hospital appointments and looked after their child to enable them to spend quality time with the child’s siblings.

There were clear systems in place to seek the views of parents and children about the quality of the service. Parents told us they knew how to make a complaint but had not used the complaints procedure as they were very pleased with all aspects of the service.

People received a well-managed service. Parents and health and social care professionals told us how the registered manager ensured that the service consistently delivery compassionate personal care and support. Staff were positive about how they were managed and the support they were given by the registered manager. Systems were in place to audit and monitor the quality of the service.