Archived: Sharing Care - Community Short Breaks Scheme

Updated 21 September 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the registered provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The inspection of Sharing Care - Community Short Breaks Scheme took place on 21 and 24 June 2016 and was announced. We gave 20 hours’ notice of the inspection because the location provides a domiciliary care service, was small and we needed to be sure that someone would be available to assist us with the inspection. One Adult Social Care inspector carried out the inspection.

Information had been gathered before the inspection from notifications that had been sent to the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Notifications are when registered providers send us information about certain changes, events or incidents that occur. We also reviewed information from people who had contacted the CQC to make their views known about the service. We had received a ‘provider information return’ (PIR) from the registered provider, which gave us information ahead of the inspection site visit. A PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We did not speak directly to any children or young people that used the service, but we spoke with three relatives of children that used the service. We spoke with the registered manager, a placement worker and an occupational therapist who worked for the service. There were also community short breaks workers employed casually by the service. All of these staffing roles are referred to collectively as ‘workers’ throughout the report.

We looked at care files belonging to three young people that used the service and at recruitment files and training records for two workers. We looked at records and documentation relating to the running of the service, including the quality assurance audits and medication management systems that were in operation. We also looked at records held in respect of complaints and compliments.

Updated 21 September 2016

The inspection of Sharing Care - Community Short Breaks Scheme took place on 21 and 24 June 2016 and was announced. At the last inspection on 2 April 2014 the service met all of the regulations we assessed under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010. These regulations were superseded on 1 April 2015 by the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

Sharing Care - Community Short Breaks Scheme provides a flexible support service to families who have a disabled child or young person. It provides a break for families from their caring roles as well as social opportunities for children and young people. The aim of the service is to provide support when families need it, at weekends, evenings and in the school holidays.

Children and young people are linked with a sessional worker who can provide the support that families agree will work best for them. For example, this could include supporting the child or young person within their own home, supporting the child or young person’s involvement in social activities or supporting children and young people alongside their families, as an “extra pair of hands” so that the child or young person can be involved in family leisure and social activities.

Prospective families are referred to the service by a health or social care professional who knows the child and their family well. The service was providing support to eight children or young people and their families at the time of the inspection.

The registered provider was required to have a registered manager in post. On the day of the inspection there was a manager that had been registered and in post for the last three years. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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.

Children and young people were protected from the risk of harm because the registered provider had systems in place to detect, monitor and report potential or actual safeguarding children concerns. Community short breaks workers, placement workers and occupational therapists were appropriately trained in safeguarding children and young people from abuse and understood their responsibilities in respect of managing potential and actual safeguarding concerns. Risks were also managed and reduced for children and young people so that they avoided injury or harm whenever possible.

The agency premises were safely maintained, as they were part of the City of York Council’s West Offices maintenance programme. Worker numbers were sufficient to meet children and young people’s needs as they were allocated using a ‘matching’ system. Parents of children and young people said that once a match was found for their child the arrangements worked well to meet their needs. However, parents told us it was sometimes difficult to keep workers as they often worked for the agency in parallel to their university studies, which meant they left once they had completed their courses.

Recruitment policies, procedures and practices were carefully followed to ensure workers were suitable to work with children and young people who may be vulnerable due to age and disability. The management of medication was safely carried out whenever it was necessary for workers to do so.

Children and young people were supported by trained and competent staff that were regularly supervised and had their personal performance appraised on a yearly basis. Children and young people were supported with their nutrition and health care needs where necessary and where parents gave consent for this to happen.

Children and young people received support from kind and caring workers that understood their needs and respected their preferences. Parents, children and young people were asked for their consent before workers undertook care and support tasks.

Children and young people’s privacy, dignity and independence were monitored and respected and workers ensured they maintained these wherever possible. This ensured children and young people were respected and enabled to take control of their lives.

Children and young people were supported according to the instructions in their person-centred support plans, which reflected their needs and were regularly reviewed. Children and young people were supported to engage in pastimes and activities of their choosing and workers ensured regular outings were facilitated after carefully planning events and ensuring venues were suitable to meet the needs of someone with a disability.

There was an effective complaint procedure in place and parents, children and young people were able to have their complaints investigated without bias.

The service was well-led and parents, children and young people had the benefit of a culture and management style that were positive and inclusive. There was an effective system in place for checking the quality of the service using audits, satisfaction surveys and meetings.

Parent, children and young people’s views were obtained through formal surveying about the quality of the service and from observations carried out by senior workers on support workers. Views were also aired by using the formal complaint system. Parents, children and young people were assured that recording systems used in the service protected their privacy and confidentiality as records were well maintained and held securely.