Archived: Reablement North

Updated 19 April 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the registered 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.

We inspected Reablement North on 15 and 16 March 2016. This was an announced inspection with 24 hours’ notice so we could meet with the registered manager at their office location.

The inspection team consisted of an adult social care inspector.

Before the inspection we reviewed all the information we held about the service such as notifications and complaints and we contacted the local authority commissioners to find out their views of the service. We spoke with one commissioner during the course of our visit. They did not raise any concerns about the service.

The registered provider had completed a registered provider information return (PIR). This is a form that asks the registered provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We discussed this with the registered manager during the course of the inspection.

Following the inspection we spoke with five people who used the service. During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager, two supervisors, a team leader and three Reablement staff.

We looked at six people’s care records, six recruitment records for staff providing personal care, the training matrixes and training records, as well as records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 19 April 2016

Reablement North is designed to help people recover from a period of serious illness or injury which may have resulted in hospital treatment. The service provides a range of rehabilitation, care and support services for up to six weeks. The service operates throughout the north area of County Durham and has two office bases, one in Stanley and one in Seaham. Currently around 50 people were using the service but this number varied on a daily basis.

We carried out this announced inspection on 15 and 16 March 2016. We met with the registered manager and staff on 15 March and we looked at records on the 14 and 15 March. We spoke with people who used the service on 16 March.

We met with the registered manager of the Reablement North service. They had many years of service in management within the local authority. 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.

A team of supervisors and support officers were based in the office locations with team leaders and Reablement workers providing the direct service in people’s own homes.

People we spoke with who received personal care felt the staff were knowledgeable, skilled and the care package met their needs. People who used the told us they felt comfortable with the members of staff who were supporting them. One person said; “They were excellent, I had eight different carers and they were all great.” Staff told us people received good care and support.

Staff undertook the management of medicines safely. There were procedures in place to support staff and staff we spoke with told us they were trained and felt confident in medicines management.

People told us they felt confident that should concerns be raised these would be dealt with appropriately. People told us they could contact the registered manager or supervisors at the service if they needed to discuss anything. People said they had the opportunity to talk about their opinions of the service during reviews and through meetings.

People were supported to maintain good health and had access to healthcare professionals and services. Where needed people were seen or referrals were made to the GP, district nursing service, occupational therapist, community physiotherapist and dietician.

People told us they were supported to prepare food and drinks of their choice. This helped to ensure that nutritional needs were met. People told us they were encouraged and supported to be independent with meal preparation.

People told us staff respected their privacy and dignity. Staff were aware of the values of the service and knew how to respect people’s privacy and dignity.

The managers and staff we spoke with told us they had attended training in the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. MCA is legislation to protect and empower people who may not be able to make their own decisions, particularly about their health care, welfare or finances.

Records we saw confirmed Durham County Council had effective recruitment and selection policies in place which ensured staff members were of good character and had the required skills to perform their work.

Staff we spoke with told us they felt supported and they spoke highly of the training provided by the service. We saw that meetings with staff both individually and collectively were positive and well recorded.

We saw care plans and risk assessments were developed with the person and staff were able to show us that they were clear and easy to follow.

There was a robust quality assurance process carried out by the service and registered provider as well as close monitoring of accidents and incidents. We saw the service had responded to any learning and improvements it needed to make to its service.