Background to this inspection
Updated
17 November 2017
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 19 September 2017 and was announced. The inspection team consisted of two adult social care inspectors and two experts by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The experts by experience on this occasion had experience in caring for a person who required support with health and social care.
Prior to the inspection we reviewed all the information we had about the service including statutory notifications and other intelligence. We also contacted the local authority commissioning and contracts department, safeguarding, infection control, the fire and police service, environmental health, the Clinical Commissioning Group, and Healthwatch to assist us in planning the inspection. We reviewed all the information we had been provided with from third parties to fully inform our approach to inspecting this service.
Before the inspection, the provider completed 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.
During our visit we spent time looking at seven people’s care plans. We also looked at five records relating to personnel management and various documents relating to the service’s quality assurance systems. We spoke with the head of service, the registered manager, the performance manager, three re-ablement managers and a care co-ordinator. Following the inspection we spoke with five support workers on the telephone. We also spoke on the telephone with 33 people who used the service and five relatives of people who used the service.
Updated
17 November 2017
The inspection of Barnsley Council Home Assessment and Re-ablement Team took place on 19 September 2017. We previously inspected the service on 3 September 2013, the service was not in breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 regulations at that time.
Barnsley Council Home Assessment and Re-ablement Team is registered to provide personal care for people who require support in their own homes following a period of illness so they may continue to live independently. The service provides support for people until they gain independence or for a maximum of six weeks, after which support may be needed from a more long term service. At the time of the inspection 55 people were receiving care and support from the service.
The service had a registered manager in place. 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. Staff had received training in safeguarding and were aware of the different types of abuse and their responsibility in reporting any concerns. Relevant risk assessments were completed when people began receiving the service.
The registered manager followed safe recruitment procedures. The staff worked in teams based on geographical location and both staff and people told us staff were on time and calls were not missed.
There were systems in place to reduce the risk of errors being made where staff were required to support a person with their medicines. However, we were not able to evidence all staff had received a recent assessment of their competency to administer medicines. We have made a recommendation about medicines management.
Although staff told us they felt supported and received regular training and supervision we identified that not all training was current and we saw in one team, only 13 of the 26 staff had received supervision during 2017.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice, however; not all staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 20015. We have made a recommendation regarding this.
People were able to access relevant healthcare professionals in a timely manner; this helped to ensure the re-ablement process was effective.
Staff were caring and kind. People told us staff offered them choices and respected their right to privacy. Staff were clear their role was to re-able people and not to complete all their tasks on the person’s behalf. Staff supported people to regain a degree of independence for example to make drinks and simple meals.
People told us they had been involved in the development of their re-ablement plan. Referrals for the service were received from a variety of sources and there was a triage system in place to manage them. Re-ablement plans included a record of the goals people wanted to achieve and the progress they had made. A record was made by support staff when they attended people’s calls, although these were not always returned to the service when the support package ended.
People we spoke with told us they were happy with the service they had received. There was a complaints procedure in place and the registered manager told us they were currently investigating one formal complaint.
Staff were clear about their roles and responsibilities. Regular staff meetings were held and feedback was gained from people who used the service. The current systems of governance were not sufficient to ensure all aspects of the service were safe and effective. We have made a recommendation about systems of governance.