Suffolk Home First South provides an assessment and re-ablement service to people who require personal care, help with daily living activities and other practical tasks. This can include people who have not had care services before, who require care following discharge from hospital or whose care needs have recently changed. The service works alongside other agencies such as health and external care providers usually for the short term period of six to ten weeks encouraging people to develop the confidence and skills to carry out these activities themselves and continue to live at home.When we inspected on 8 June 2016 the service was providing the regulatory activity of personal care to 117 people. This was an announced inspection. The provider was given 24 hours’ notice because the location provides a care service within the community and we needed to know that someone would be available.
A registered manager was in post. 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 were complimentary about the approach of the care staff. They told us they felt safe and received effective care, tailored to meet their needs, from a consistent staff team who were competent and well trained.
Systems were in place which provided guidance for staff on how to safeguard the people who used the service from the potential risk of abuse. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities in keeping people safe and actions were taken when they were concerned about people’s safety.
There were procedures and processes in place to ensure the safety of the people who used the service. These included risk assessments which identified how the risks to people were minimised.
Where people required assistance to take their medicines there were arrangements in place to provide this support safely.
There were sufficient numbers of staff who had been recruited safely and who had the skills and knowledge to provide care and support to people in the way they preferred. Staff had developed good relationships with people who used the service and understood the need to obtain consent when providing care.
People received care and support which was planned and delivered to meet their specific needs. People and/or their representatives, where appropriate, were involved in making decisions about their care and support arrangements.
Where required, people were safely supported with their dietary needs. Where staff had identified concerns in people’s wellbeing there were systems in place to contact health and social care professionals to make sure they received appropriate care and treatment.
A complaints procedure was in place. People’s concerns and complaints were listened to, addressed in a timely manner and used to improve the service.
The service had an open and empowering culture. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities in providing safe and good quality care to the people who used the service. There was decisive and effective leadership in the service. The service had a quality assurance system in place and as a result the quality of the service continued to improve.