This inspection took place on 12 and 13 July 2016. The inspection was announced 72 hours before to establish if staff and people using the service would be available to talk with us. HF Trust - Warwickshire DCA is registered to provide personal care to people with a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder. There were six people using the service at the time of our inspection.
A requirement of the provider’s registration is that they have a registered manager. 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. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager at the service.
People received support from a consistent staff team who understood their care needs. People knew the staff well and which staff member was going to support them at each scheduled visit. The support people received was from staff who cared and took time to understand them.
Staff we spoke with had received training in protecting people from abuse and understood their responsibilities to keep people safe and protect them from harm. Staff felt confident about reporting any concerns or poor practice to their managers.
Care plans included risk assessments for people’s health and welfare. The plans were written with guidance for staff on how to manage identified risks, and were focussed on supporting people to take risks if they wanted to. Staff understood people’s needs and abilities because they read the care plans and shadowed experienced staff until they knew people well.
Staff had completed training to support them in meeting people’s needs effectively. This included training in medicines management so people could be assured they received their medicine from staff who had been assessed as competent to give medicines safely.
Staff understood and worked within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Staff understood they had to respect the decisions people made if they had capacity. Relatives confirmed that staff supported people to make their own decisions, but were confident staff would also act in people’s best interests if a need arose.
People were involved in deciding and planning what they had to eat, but staff encouraged people to follow a healthy eating plan. People were supported to access support and advice from health professionals on a routine basis as well as when sudden or unexpected changes in their health occurred.
Staff understood the ethos of the service was to provide support that enabled people to live as independently as possible. Care plans included guidance for how staff should support people to maintain their dignity, choice, independence and relationships with others. People were supported to engage in activities and interests that were meaningful to them.
The management team provided good leadership and people who used the service found them approachable and responsive. Staff said they received good support from the management team. There were processes to monitor the quality of the service provided and understand the experiences of people who used the service.