The Disabled Children’s Support Services is a domiciliary care service which provides personal care and support to children and young people in their own home. At the time of our inspection the Service was supporting 27 children living in Nottinghamshire. There were three types of services offered that the commission regulates. Overnight short breaks at home where staff supported a child in their own home, homecare service which involved working with parents to support their child in their home and the short-term assessment team which supported children and parents for a period of six to eight weeks.
This inspection took place on 14 April 2016.
There was a registered manager in place and they were available during the inspection. 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.
Relatives told us they were satisfied with most aspects of the service provided and spoke highly of the staff that were supporting their child/children. Parents and guardians told us their child was treated with compassion and kindness and that their privacy and dignity were respected.
Parents and guardians told us they felt staff provided safe and effective care. Staff we spoke to had a good understanding of the various types of harm people could suffer from and their roles and responsibilities in reporting any safeguarding concerns. Staff had also received safeguarding children’s training.
Children’s care plans reflected their individual needs and personal wishes, but did not contain enough information to make it child friendly. Relatives told us they were involved in the development of their care plans and were enabled to express their views on an on going basis.
Staff at the service were carefully recruited and were required to undergo a number of background checks prior to starting their employment. This helped to ensure only people with the required skills and of suitable character were employed.
Relatives told us the children received their medicines as prescribed and we saw records that confirmed this. Staff received regular supervisions and annual appraisals and were able to reflect on the care and support they delivered and identified further training requirements. The service encouraged feedback from all people involved with the service.
Children received care and support from kind, caring and compassionate staff, who respected their privacy and dignity at all times.
Relatives were positive about the leadership of the service. Staff were clear about the vision and values of the service. There were audits in place but these were not always carried out consistently. The registered manager agreed to improve the systems to monitor quality and safety during our inspection.