Community Response Team West

Updated 4 December 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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Community Response Team West is a domiciliary care agency. It provides responsive short term reablement and personal care to people in their own homes, which included people living with dementia, mental health needs, physical disabilities, sensory impairments, older adults and younger adults.

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

The provider was given 24 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service; we needed to be sure that someone would be available in the office.

Inspection activity started on 8 October and ended on 11 October 2019. We visited the office location on 8 October to speak with the registered manager and staff and review care and other records. Telephone contact to gather feedback about the service from people and their relatives was completed on 10 October 2019.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 13 people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the registered manager, senior operations manager, operations manager, and three care team staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care and medicines records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including training, quality assurance, policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We received feedback from two professionals who regularly visit the service.

Updated 4 December 2019

About the service

Community Response Team West is owned by Hampshire County Council. The agency is primarily a short-term assessment and reablement service for people coming out of hospital and living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection, 100 people were using the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

There were effective systems in place to monitor and manage risks associated with people’s care, including incident reporting procedures. Staff understood how to identify, report and manage any concerns related to people’s safety and welfare. People’s needs for support around managing their medicines were assessed. Where staff assisted people with medicines this was clearly recorded. There were sufficient numbers of experienced staff to meet people’s needs. Safe recruitment practices were followed and appropriate checks had been undertaken, which made sure only suitable staff were employed to provide care for people.

There was an induction, training and development programme, which supported staff to gain relevant knowledge and skills. Staff assisted people to obtain advice and support from other health professionals to maintain and improve their health or when their needs changed.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People and their relatives felt the agency supported them in a kind and caring manner to meet their needs. They were involved in the assessment and planning of the care they received. People were treated with respect and staff encouraged and promoted their independence.

The majority of people we spoke with told us the service was responsive to their needs. The timing of visits was the main reason people gave for any dissatisfaction with the service. Information about the agency was given to people before they received care, which informed them specifically timed visits could not be guaranteed due to the nature of the service. There was a clear and systematic process of reviews of each person’s care and support from start to end of the service provided. Systems were in place to help ensure any concerns or complaints were responded to appropriately.

There was an open and inclusive culture within the service and the registered manager provided leadership to the staff team. The provider had a clear plan for developing person-centred services that encouraged and enabled people to stay well and live independently. This included working closely with other health and social care services to enable people receiving care to remain in their own homes.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 24 March 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.