Wigan Reablement Service

Updated 21 June 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:

The inspection team consisted of an adult social care inspector and an assistant inspector from the Care Quality Commission (CQC), who conducted telephone calls with people using the service and their relatives.

Service and service type:

Wigan Reablement Service is a domiciliary care service, who provide support to people who have just left hospital, or experienced significant changes in their ability to cope at home. Support is provided for up to six weeks, in order to assist people to regain lost skills, learn new ones and generally promote and improve their independence, allowing them to remain within their own homes.

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:

We gave the service 48 hour’s notice of the inspection visit. This was to ensure the registered manager would be available to support the inspection and to allow time for people to be asked if we could contact them for feedback and complete home visits to speak to them in person.

What we did:

Prior to the inspection we reviewed information and evidence we already held about the service, which had been collected via our ongoing monitoring of care services. This included notifications sent to us by the service. Notifications are details about changes, events or incidents that the provider is legally obliged to send to us without delay. We also asked for feedback from the local authority and professionals who worked with the service.

We did not ask the service to complete a Provider Information Return, which 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. One had been completed prior to re-registering in 2018.

During the inspection we spoke with 12 people who used the service and four relatives. Feedback was gathered through both telephone calls and home visits. We also spoke with the registered manager and 11 staff members, which included five support workers, three reablement officers and three reablement managers.

We reviewed six care plans, eight staff personnel files, and other records relating to the management of the service and the care and support provided to people, including medicine administration records (MAR), audits and quality monitoring information.

Updated 21 June 2019

About the service:

Wigan Reablement Service provides a stepping stone to independence, providing people with support to regain lost skills, learn new ones and adapt to the challenges that independent living can present. It is a short-term service of up to six weeks, which is implemented free of charge following a person’s discharge from hospital or significant change in their ability to cope at home. Support is also used as an assessment to determine whether a longer term care package is required. At the time of inspection 114 people were using the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

People spoke highly of the care and support they received from staff who were described as being “brilliant”, “exceedingly helpful” and went “above and beyond expectations”. Without exception, each person we spoke with said they felt safe, well supported and would recommend the service to others.

The service ensured people were central to the entire reablement process, providing exceptionally person-centred care, which was responsive to people’s needs and wishes. Changes to support plans were both welcomed and facilitated immediately, to ensure people received support in the areas they both needed and wanted.

As well as supporting people, the service also provided support and advice to relatives, which was very much appreciated. One relative told us, “’They’ve been great. I’m his full time carer and they take the time to talk to me as well, which is really nice. They also give me little tips to help me improve the care I provide.’’

The service had developed excellent links with a range of professionals and organisations, to improve both the quality of the service as well as the care provided to the wider population as a whole. The service volunteered to take part in a range of pilot schemes, to increase staff’s skills and improve people’s experiences.

Staff spoke highly about the training and support provided. Staff told us they felt valued as well as trusted and empowered to make decisions on a day to day basis, to ensure people received the most effective care and support possible.

People were encouraged to provide their views and opinions about the service, to help drive continuous improvement. The service used a range of audits and quality monitoring systems, to help support this process.

Both people and staff felt the service was exceptionally well run. The registered manager was seen as a positive role model, whose enthusiasm radiated throughout the service.

For more details please see the full report either below or on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection:

This was the first inspection since the service had re-registered in December 2018, due to moving offices.

Why we inspected:

This inspection was part of our scheduled plan of visiting services to check the safety and quality of care people received. Newly registered services are inspected within 12 months of registration.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor information and intelligence we receive about the service to ensure care remains safe and of good quality. We will return to re-inspect in line with our inspection timescales for outstanding services, however if any information of concern is received, we may inspect sooner.