Archived: Craven Community and Voluntary Services

Updated 23 November 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 16 September 2015 and was announced. The provider was given 24 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be available at the office to meet with us.

The inspection team consisted of one inspector and one expert by experience. The expert by experience carried out telephone interviews to seek the views and experiences of people using the service. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service and had expertise in adult health and social care.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included notifications regarding safeguarding, accidents and changes which the provider had informed us about. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We also looked at previous inspection reports. Before our inspections we usually ask the provider to send us a provider information return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We did not ask the provider to complete a PIR on this occasion because we planned the inspection at short notice.

During the inspection visit we looked at records which related to people’s individual care. We looked at five people’s care planning documentation and other records associated with running a community care service. This included four recruitment records and the staff rota. We also reviewed records required for the management of the service such as audits, statement of purpose, satisfaction surveys and the complaints procedure. During our visit to the agency we spoke with the registered provider’s representative known as a nominated individual. We also spoke with the temporary manager and office manager and a member of care staff. We telephoned four people who received a service from the agency. We also telephoned and spoke with three members of staff from the agency.

We received information from Healthwatch. They are an independent body who hold key information about the local views and experiences of people receiving care. CQC has a statutory duty to work with Healthwatch to take account of their views and to consider any concerns that may have been raised with them about this service. We also consulted North Yorkshire County Council to see if they had any concerns about the service, and none were raised.

Updated 23 November 2015

We undertook this announced inspection on the 16 September 2015. This was the first inspection of the agency at Newmarket Street in Skipton. We carried out an inspection on 26 June 2013 at the agency’s previous address in Crosshills, Keighley on 12 September 2013. The service met all of the regulations that we assessed at that time.

Craven Community and Voluntary Services provides practical and emotional support for carers and the people they care for. The service supports the carer by giving them the opportunity to have a break from their caring responsibilities. This can include befriending, accompanying to appointments or activities and some personal care. The service provides support for 52 people and has 13 volunteers and 23 employees, most of whom work part-time hours. The service supports people who live in Skipton and surrounding villages.

At the time of the inspection there was an acting manager in post. The provider confirmed that they have now appointed a new manager and their application to be registered with the CQC was in progress. 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.

People told us they felt safe when receiving support from staff. The service recruited staff in a safe way making sure all necessary background checks had been carried out. Staff had a good understanding of safeguarding procedures and how to protect people from harm. There were risk assessments in place to identify risks due to people’s health or mobility and to make sure these were minimised without intruding on people’s privacy and independence. There were records that showed staff received the training they needed to keep people safe.

We were informed by the provider that the service does not administer medication to people they provide a service for as their carers/relatives do this. However they do on occasions prompt people to take their medication and the medication policy and procedure was not sufficiently clear as to what the organisations expectations were of staff in relation to medicines. We have recommended the provider to review their medication policies and procedures to ensure they are clear.

Care was planned and delivered in partnership with people and their families. People spoke highly of the care staff and told us they were skilled and well trained and that the agency provided a flexible service that met their needs.

People told us the care they received was excellent and that care staff went that extra mile. People said the agency responded to their needs and the examples they gave us was where support was increased to meet the family’s needs. Staff spoke passionately about delivering a good care standard of care for people.

People told us they knew how to make a complaint and said they would either ring the office or speak with a member of care staff from the agency. However everyone we spoke with said they did not have any complaints.

The management team were committed to providing a good quality service. Systems and processes were in place to monitor the service and make improvements where they could. This included internal audits and regular contact with people using the service, to check they were satisfied with their care packages. However some of the policies and procedures needed updating and we have recommended the provider to review these to ensure they are in line with current legislation.