Archived: Better Healthcare Services (Ipswich)

At our last inspection of 2 March 2015, the service was rated Good. At this inspection, we found the service remained Good.

There was a manager in post at the time of our inspection, but they were not registered. They had submitted their application to become the registered manager and were awaiting their fit person interview. 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.

The service continued to provide a safe service to people. This included systems designed to minimise the risks to people, including from abuse. There were enough staff to cover people’s planned care visits. Robust recruitment procedures were in place and contributed to protecting people from unsuitable staff. Where people required support with their medicines, this was done safely.

Staff were trained and supported to meet people’s needs. Staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Staff supported people to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff cared for them in the least restrictive way possible, the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Systems were in place to enable people to eat and drink enough, where they required help to do this. People were supported to have access to health professionals if they needed this support.

Care staff had good relationships with people who used the service. Staff listened to and acted upon people’s views about how they wanted to be supported.

People received care and support that was planned and delivered to meet their individual needs. A complaints procedure was in place and complaints were dealt with and used to improve the service.

There was an open and empowering culture throughout the service and quality assurance systems supported the management team to identify shortfalls and address them promptly. As a result, the quality of the service continued to improve.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

The purpose of this inspection was to check that improvements had been made following our inspection of 17 June 2013. This told us that the service had responded to our concerns in a timely manner.

During this inspection we found that improvements had been made. Staff recruitment records that were seen showed that the appropriate checks were made to ensure that people who used the service were protected by the provider's recruitment procedures and processes. People were provided with care and support by care workers who were trained and supported to meet their needs safely. Processes were in place to monitor and assess the service that people were provided with.

We spoke with four people's relatives who told us that they were satisfied with the service that their relatives were provided with. One person's relative told us, "The carers are brilliant." Another person's relative said, "My (person) has regular carers, (person) gets on really well with (care worker)." Another person's relative told us that when they had raised concerns with the service, actions were taken to address their concern.

We looked at the care records of 10 people who used the service and found that they experienced care, treatment and support that met their needs and protected their rights.

There were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to meet people's needs. We saw the recruitment records of 13 care workers and found that the recruitment processes did not provide robust checks on the conduct of care workers in their previous employment to ensure that people were supported by care workers who were suitable to work with vulnerable people. We also found that care workers were not provided with adequate levels of supervision.