7 November 2013
During a routine inspection
We found that people were satisfied with the care and support they received. One person told us 'the staff are really good'. People had received care from the agency for many years and we observed care workers interacting with people in a way which showed that they knew them and their needs well. We observed care workers being respectful towards people and treating them with dignity.
People were supported to make choices and received the care they needed in the way they preferred. Care workers used individualised communication aids to support people to express their wishes. We found that where people lacked the capacity to make significant decisions best interest decisions had been made in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act (2005).
We found that people had an assessment of their health and welfare needs. We saw that care plans reflected people's needs and risk assessments provided care workers with sufficient information to know how to support people appropriately to ensure their safety and welfare.
The agency had arrangements in place to protect people from the risk of abuse. Staff understood local safeguarding arrangements and knew how to respond to any concerns relating to abuse. We saw that systems were in place to protect people that could not manage their money independently from financial abuse.
We found that staff had received appropriate induction, training and supervision to ensure that they had the skills to undertake their care tasks competently.
The agency had systems in place to monitor the quality of care provided. Monthly house meetings were held to provide people with an opportunity to evaluate the quality of the support they received. Systems were in place to monitor risks and the agency ensured that they learned from investigations. The agency undertook regular audits and we found that they took action when risks were identified.