Community Response Team North

Updated 1 August 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team: This inspection was carried out by one inspector and an expert by experience with an area of expertise in dementia care. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The expert by experience contacted people and their relatives to seek feedback on people’s experience of using the service.

Service and service type: Community Response Team North is a domiciliary care agency. It provides responsive short term reablement and personal care to people in their own homes which included people living with dementia, mental health needs, physical disabilities, sensory impairments, older adults and younger adults.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection: This inspection was announced, and we gave the provider 24 hours’ notice of the inspection activity as we needed to be sure staff would be available. Office location visits took place on the 29 May and 03 June 2019 to speak with the registered manager, review care records and policies and procedures. This also included visits to four peoples home. Telephone contact with people and their relatives who use the service was completed on 31 May 2019 to gather feedback of people’s experiences of the care and support provided.

What we did: Before the inspection we reviewed the information we had received about the service, including previous inspection reports and notifications. Notifications are information about specific important events the service is legally required to send to us. We also considered information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection we gathered information from:

Six people using the service, including four home visits

Ten relatives

The registered manager

Five members of staff

Medicine Administration Records (MARS)

Care records for six people

Staff training records

Four staff records including recruitment practices

After the inspection we gathered information from:

Telephone contact with two care staff

Feedback from one local authority social care professional

Updated 1 August 2019

About the service: Community Response Team North (CRT North) is a domiciliary care agency run by Hampshire County Council which specialises in providing a short term reablement service in Alton, Bordon, Aldershot and surrounding areas. The Community Response Team North primarily provides short term personal care and reablement services to people discharged from hospital. At the time of the inspection 57 people were using the service.

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

People’s experience of using this service:

Where people required support to manage and administer their prescribed medicines, this was managed safety and in line with best practice guidance.

Oversight of staff training was not always effective to ensure all staff completed their training in line with the providers timescales. However, we received feedback from people that the care provided was of good quality from experienced staff who knew them well. Following feedback we received assurance that immediate action was taken to address this.

People’s safety was promoted through personalised risk assessments. This included risks to people and environmental risk. Where risks were identified there was clear guidance for staff to follow to reduce the risks to people.

People’s rights and freedoms were protected and there were systems in place to ensure compliance with the principles of The Mental Capacity Act 2005 when people required additional support with their decision making.

People’s care records focused on their strengths and independence building and people were supported to regularly review their progress.

There were clear systems and processes in place to protect people from the risk of abuse. Staff had a good understanding of how to keep people safe and how to raise any concerns.

People and relatives consistently told us they were happy with the care and support provided and spoke positively of the relationships they had built with care staff.

Staff ensured people were treated with dignity and respect and people were supported to maintain their privacy when care was provided.

People were actively encouraged to make their own choices and decisions, and care plans were responsive to people’s changing needs.

There was a clear management structure in place and staff consistently told us they felt supported and valued in their roles.

Rating at last inspection:

This service was previously rated as Good at the last comprehensive inspection. That report was published on 29 November 2016.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the previous inspection rating of ‘Good’.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service and will inspect the service again based on the inspection rating of ‘good’ and take into account any additional information we receive.