Archived: Support Plus

Support Plus is a domiciliary care agency situated within the grounds of Bencurtis Park which provides sheltered housing accommodation for older people. Support Plus provides personal care and support to older people living in supported accommodation and who live with dementia, physical disability and or sensory impairment. At the time of our inspection there were 11 people using the service.

The service had a registered manager 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

At our last comprehensive inspection of the service on 21 and 22 January 2016 we found a breach of legal requirements because people’s risk assessments were not detailed and did not always provide guidance for staff on how to manage and mitigate risks to people’s health and well-being.

At this inspection we found that the provider had made the required improvements relating to the breach of legal requirements.

There were appropriate safeguarding and whistle-blowing procedures in place and staff had an understanding of these procedures. Assessments were in place to support people where risks to their health and welfare had been identified. Appropriate recruitment checks took place before staff started work and there was enough staff to meet people’s needs.

The registered manager and staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and acted according to this legislation. Staff completed an induction when they started work and received training relevant to the needs of people using the service. Care plans detailed people’s nutritional and support needs where required. People had support to access health and social care professionals if required.

People were provided with appropriate information about the service. People said staff were kind and their privacy and dignity was maintained. People were consulted about their care and care plans were in place that provided information for staff on how to support people safely and appropriately. People were aware of the complaints procedure and we saw complaints were managed appropriately.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided to people. The provider took into account the views of people using the service through satisfaction surveys. The provider conducted unannounced spot checks to make sure people were supported in line with their care plans. There was an out of hours on call system in operation that ensured management support was always available to people using the service and staff when they needed it.

Support Plus is a domiciliary care agency situated within the grounds of Bencurtis Park which provides sheltered housing accommodation for older people. Support Plus provides personal care to older people living with dementia, physical disability and or sensory impairment within their own homes within the local community.

At the time of the inspection there were 12 people using the service and there was a registered manager 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.

We found risks to people were identified by the service; however, risks assessments were not detailed and did not always provide guidance for staff on how to manage risks to people. You can see what action we have told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.

Medicine records showed that people were receiving their medicines as prescribed by health care professionals.

There were in systems in place that ensured people received their care on time and people were kept safe and their needs were met. There were appropriate safeguarding policies and procedures in place and staff had a clear understanding of these procedures. There was a whistle-blowing procedure available and staff said they would use it if they needed to. The service had systems in place to manage accidents and incidents whilst trying to reduce reoccurrence.

Appropriate recruitment checks took place before staff started work and there were enough staff to meet people’s care and support needs. Staff completed induction training when they started work and had received up to date refresher training when required. Staff were supported through regular supervision and annual appraisals in line with the provider’s policy.

There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and there was an out of hours on call system.

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The manager and staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and acted according to this legislation. People had access to health care professionals when they needed them.

People were involved in their care planning and the care and support they received was personalised and staff respected their wishes and met their needs. Support plans provided clear information for staff on how to support people using the service with their needs. Support plans were reflective of people's individual care needs and preferences and were reviewed on a regular basis. We saw peoples’ care files were kept both in people’s home and in the office. People were supported to be independent where possible such as doing their own washing.

People’s privacy and dignity was respected. People were provided with information about the service when they joined in the form of a ‘resident user guide’ which included the service’s complaints policy. People had access to a range of healthcare professionals in order that they maintained good health.

Systems were in place to monitor and evaluate the quality and safety of the service and obtain feedback from people and staff.