- Homecare service
Active Care Group Supported Services
Report from 4 April 2024 assessment
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment 29 February 2024 and 03 April 2024. Active Care Group is a service providing personal care to people who have care needs, such as deteriorating mobility, autism, learning disabilities, complex epilepsy, mental health issues and acquired brain injury. On-site assessments were conducted at Woodland Court and Clareville Lodge while off-site assessments were conducted at Byron Road, Cedars Road, Liberty Court and Prospect Court. The service has improved since the previous assessment. We found at this assessment that risk assessments were conducted, updated and risks were mitigated effectively. There were now sufficient staff deployed, however, the deployment was not always effective to ensure that people were kept safe. Staff were now able to recognise the signs of abuse and the process to follow if they suspected abuse was taking place. However, they were not always reporting incidents appropriately or in a timely way. Measures were in place to ensure people were protected from abuse. Medication management was effective, with trained staff, regular competency checks, and monthly audits. There was evidence of good relationships between staff and people. Staff now offered people choices and supported them to remain independent. The provision of care was now done in a person-centred manner. There was a robust staff recruitment procedure in place. There were activities organised by staff, however they were not always person-centred and offered enough variety of experiences. We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.
People's experience of this service
People told us they felt safe, staff knew them well and they knew how to raise any concerns. One person stated “I feel safe when I am here. If I didn’t feel safe, I would talk to a member of staff about why I didn’t feel safe and generally how I’m feeling about the situation that might pop up.” However, people told us that some staff did not always treat them with kindness. Relatives said they felt assured their family members were safe and that their concerns were addressed by staff. One relative stated “I think she is safe there.” People expressed that they felt there were sufficient staff members to provide them with support. However, people told us that there can be a delay between asking for support and receiving it. One person stated “We’ve had the buzzers for a long time. They don’t come that quickly. A lot of us have to be behind staff. We’ve been told to hold the button down for 8 seconds and the staff can go there quickly but that doesn’t seem to work either.” People felt like they are well cared for by staff and that their privacy, dignity, and independence were upheld. Comments included “The staff listen to me. They enable me to live as independently as possible. They are involving me in taking decisions about my care.” People and their relatives were involved in planning care and assessing risks. One relative told us “I was consulted when that (support plan) was made. It has been updated several times and she’s getting a new protocol for seizures. I get a copy and I can read it after the care plan is being done. They send me a copy when I request it.” People were able to approach the management team and felt listened to and that any concerns would be addressed. Relatives felt confident in approaching the local management and expressing their views and concerns, however they expressed that the senior management was not able to always communicate effectively.