16 September 2015
During a routine inspection
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.