North Reablement Service

Updated 9 July 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

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the 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.

Inspection activity started on 22 May 2019 and ended on 23 May 2019. We visited the office location on both days and visited people in their own homes on the second day.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included the previous inspection report and statutory notifications from the service since our last inspection. Statutory notifications are information that services are required to send to CQC about significant events such as deaths and serious injuries. 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 used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We visited and spoke with five people who used the service and three relatives. We spoke with the registered manager, one team leader, and four support workers. We observed how staff cared for and supported people. We reviewed six people’s care records, eight staff records, and other records to show how the service was run. This included training and supervision records, minutes from meetings, accident/incident records and quality assurance records.

Updated 9 July 2019

About the service:

North Reablement Service is a domiciliary care service which provides personal care to people living in their own homes. As a reablement service it aims to help people regain the ability to perform their usual activities, so they can do remain independent and live in their own home. People using the service usually receive a time-limited package of care of around six weeks duration. The service predominantly provides support to older adults who have recently been discharged from hospital. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting 42 people.

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

At the time of our inspection the service was not always following best practice guidelines around supporting people to manage their own medicines. However, a new policy had been introduced with relevant training planned for all staff to take place shortly after our inspection.

People told us they felt safe and that visits helped to reduce anxiety. Care staff understood how to keep people safe, and any potential risks were assessed as an ongoing process. Staff understood and implemented the service’s safeguarding procedures and were vigilant to any signs of abuse.

There were enough staff to meet assessed need. Rotas allowed enough time to support people and get to know their needs and requirements. Recruitment records contained enough information to show staff suitability to work with vulnerable people. A computerised system to allocate calls meant calls were extremely rarely missed. If staff were going to be late for appointed visits, people told us that they would receive a phone call to let them know.

Staff understood the importance of infection control and were knowledgeable about diet and nutrition. When we asked people for whom care staff prepared meals they told us the food was cooked to their liking.

Staff were well trained and competent. The service had access to a range of training to improve staff knowledge and understanding. They received supervision and their performance was monitored during spot checks in people’s homes.

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/ did not support this practice. Independence and choice were encouraged.

We received good feedback from people about the way their care and support was delivered. They told us that the staff were friendly and established a good rapport. Their privacy was respected.

Good care records, which were regularly reviewed, indicated people’s needs and how they wanted to be supported. People were involved in planning their care and agreeing goals. Staff monitored people’s progress toward achieving their goals through review, and any ongoing needs were identified. case notes gave an indication of changes in need and any issues to be addressed.

Staff felt supported by the management team, and regular audits were conducted. The service worked closely with other health and social care professionals to provide people with good quality, co-ordinated care.

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 04 August 2016).

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