Archived: Lavender Support Services Limited

Updated 27 April 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 8 and 14 April 2015 and was announced. We gave 48 hours’ notice of the inspection to ensure that that staff were available and people were at home.

The inspection was undertaken by one inspector and an expert by experience, who had experience of older people’s care services. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service. They supported us during this inspection by making telephone calls to service users.

We checked the information we held about the service and the provider and saw that no recent concerns had been raised. We had received information about events that the provider was required to inform us about by law, for example, where safeguarding referrals had been made to the local authority to investigate and for incidents of serious injuries or events that stop the service. We also contacted the local authority that commissions the service to obtain their views.

We spoke with seven people who used the service and eight relatives in order to gain their views about the quality of the service provided. We also spoke with three care staff, two senior carers, a care co-ordinator, staff trainer, registered manager and the deputy manager, to ensure that the service had robust quality systems in place. We reviewed the care records of ten people who used the service and the recruitment and training records of four members of staff.

Updated 27 April 2015

Lavender Support Services Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection the service provided approximately 50 packages of personal care and support.

The inspection took place on 8 and 14 April 2015.

The service had 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.

People felt safe and were treated well by staff. Staff had a good understanding of how to identify abuse, and knew how to respond appropriately to any concerns to keep people safe.

Staff managed risks to promote people’s safety, and balanced these against people’s right to take risks and remain independent.

Staff numbers were based upon the amount of care that people required, in conjunction with their assessed dependency levels.

Recruitment procedures were in place to ensure that only people who were considered suitable worked within the service.

Systems were in place to ensure that medicines were administered and handled safely.

There was an induction programme for new staff which prepared them for their role. Staff were provided with a range of training to help them to carry out their roles effectively. They had regular supervision meetings with their manager and annual appraisals to support them to meet people’s needs.

Staff were meeting the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005.

People were supported to attend health appointments when required and to see social care professionals as and when they needed. Prompt action was taken in response to illness or changes in people’s physical and mental health.

Staff treated people with kindness and compassion and cared for them according to their individual needs. Staff had a good understanding of people’s needs and preferences and we received positive feedback from relatives about the service provided by care workers.

Staff were knowledgeable about the specific needs of the people in their care. They responded well to people’s personal views and preferences.

People knew how to make a complaint if they needed to and were confident that the service would listen to them.

The registered manager and senior staff consistently monitored and reviewed the quality of care people received and encouraged feedback from people and their representatives. This was used to identify, plan and make improvements to the service.