Archived: Advance Cornwall

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

Advance Cornwall is a domiciliary care service that provides care and support to people in their own homes. This includes people with general physical health needs, mental health needs, and learning disabilities. The care ranges from a few hours of support a week up to 24 hour care for people in supported living.

A supported living service is one where people live in their own home and receive care and support in order to promote their independence. People have tenancy agreements with Advanced Housing and Support Ltd, and receive their care and support from the domiciliary care agency. As the housing and care arrangements are separate, people can choose to change their care provider without losing their home.

Staff were enthusiastic and passionate about the service. Comments included, “I have come to this type of work later in my career and I can honestly say that I love it and find my job very satisfying and rewarding.”

People were supported by a stable and consistent staff team who knew people well and had received training specific to their needs. Staff told us they enjoyed their work and were well supported through supervision, appraisals and training.

People were involved in choosing the staff that supported them. Efforts were made to match staff with people by identifying any shared interests and hobbies.

People told us they felt safe with the staff who supported them. Staff were confident about the action to take if they had any safeguarding concerns and were confident the registered manager would follow up any worries they might have. Risk assessments clearly identified any risk and gave staff guidance on how to minimise the risk. They were designed to keep people and staff safe while allowing people to develop and maintain their independence.

Care records were up to date, had been regularly reviewed and accurately reflected the person's care and support needs. The person's care plan was presented in written and pictorial formats to enable them to read their plan and be involved in any changes or updates. Details of how the person wished to be supported with their care needs were highly personalised and provided clear information to enable staff to provide appropriate and effective support.

Staff had high expectations for people and were positive in their attitude. Staff were respectful of the fact they were working in people's homes. One staff member said "I understand that I am a guest here. I wouldn’t like someone to come into my home without my wishes being respected so that’s always at the front of my mind.”

The service offered flexible support to people and were able to adapt in order to meet people's needs and support them as they wanted. For example, by providing more or less support according to what each person wanted.

The registered managers spoke highly of the staff team describing them as committed and enthusiastic in their approach to work. Staff told us they felt involved in the development of the service and that management listened to any ideas and suggestions they had and took them on board.

The service was well led and all of the staff were motivated and keen to ensure the care needs of the person they were supporting were met. The management team had a clear set of values which was also apparent in our discussions with staff. Advance Cornwall had a clear set of values and visions. The organisation works to achieve the PRIDE (Partnership, Respect, Innovation, Drive and Efficiency) principles.

The service had a registered manager in post. 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’s feedback about their experience of the service was positive. People said staff treated them respectfully and asked them how they wanted their care and support to be provided. People told us they had their care visits as planned. Staff arrived on time and stayed for the allotted time. People confirmed there was a stable staff team and that care was provided by familiar faces.

Staff were knowledgeable about the people they cared for and responded appropriately as people's needs changed. Staff spoke positively about the people they supported and were motivated to provide an individualised service in line with people's needs and goals.

People had a care plan that provided staff with direction and guidance about how to meet people’s individual needs and wishes. Care plans were regularly reviewed and any changes in people’s needs were communicated to staff.

Assessments were carried out to identify any risks to the person using the service and to the staff supporting them. This included any environmental risks in people’s homes and any risks in relation to the care and support needs of the person. People told us they were involved in decisions about their care and were aware of their care plans.

The service worked successfully with healthcare services to ensure people's health care needs were met and had supported people to access services from a variety of healthcare professionals including GPs, dentists and other medical services to provide additional support when required. Health and social care professionals were mainly positive about the service, comments included, “In my opinion the current managers are competent and professional” and “I have had no reason to be unhappy with the management currently.” One health and social care professional commented that information about a person’s communication aid had not been implemented appropriately. The registered manager provided further information about the issue following the inspection including evidence that the person’s communication support plan identified the use of several alternative methods of communicating with the customer using their preferred styles of communicating.

Staff were recruited safely, which helped ensure they were suitable to work with vulnerable people. Staff had received training in how to recognise and report abuse. All were clear about how to report any concerns and were confident that any allegations made would be fully investigated to help ensure people were protected.

Staff received appropriate training and supervision. New staff received an induction, which incorporated the care certificate. All staff received an appraisal of their work. Staff comments included, "The training is very good. We are always doing training and we are encouraged to do further training when it’s required to meet the needs of the people we support" and "Advance have provided me with the training necessary to do my job. They have also been open to any of my suggestions for training for myself and our team.”

Accidents and incidents were accurately recorded and reported and any lessons learned were shared with staff. The service learned from any mistakes and used these as an opportunity to raise standards. There was a culture of openness and honesty and staff felt able to raise concerns or suggestions.