Archived: Craegmoor Supporting You in Lincolnshire

Craegmoor Supporting You In Lincolnshire provides support and personal care to people who live in their own homes. People who use the service have a range of needs which include learning disabilities and mental health difficulties. At the time of our inspection four people who had moved into supported living from a residential care setting and two people who were supported in their own homes received support under the regulated activity of personal care. There were 41 other people who received support from the service which was not provided under the activity for which the service is registered.

There was an established 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 were involved in making decisions about how they wanted to be supported and how they spent their time. Staff were caring and positive working relationships had been developed between staff and people who used the service. These relationships were being consistently maintained.

New staff were recruited safely and staff were sufficiently trained and supported by the registered provider and manager to undertake their roles. There were sufficient staff available who were deployed in the right way to meet people’s care needs.

Staff had a good understanding of how to manage risks and protect people from avoidable harm. They also knew how they would report any concerns they identified.

The registered manager had ensured there were clear arrangements in place for ordering, storing, administering and disposing of medicines. Staff’s competency to safely administer medications was regularly assessed.

People had the opportunity share their views and opinions and were involved in planning and reviewing their care. People and their relatives also understood how to raise any complaints or issues they had and were confident the right actions would be taken to resolve them.

The provider had completed quality checks together with the registered manager to make sure that people received the care they needed in a consistent way. These checks included a range of effective audit systems to ensure the service was continually monitored. This was so that any changes or improvements needed would be acted upon in order to keep developing the quality of the services provided.

We asked people who used the service if they felt safe, one person told us, 'Yes, I feel very safe.' Another person was able to tell us about the easy read safeguarding policy which was included in the service user guide.

We looked at the staff rotas for the current month and the past and previous months. We saw there were no gaps in any of the provision and staff had been allocated to the same people where possible; this promoted continuity of care. We were able to confirm the staff rota was an accurate representation of the number of staff on duty on the day of our inspection.

We asked members of staff if they felt people knew how to complain. One said, 'Yes, our service users are very able, they certainly would know how to complain if they were unhappy.'

We found people who used the service were protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening. People told us they knew who to speak to if they had any concerns. Staff received training and support which helped to ensure that they supported people safely.

People were cared for, or supported by, suitably qualified, skilled and experienced staff. Evidence showed staff had received appropriate professional development, training and supervision. One person told us, 'The staff are absolutely brilliant.'

We found the provider had an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people receive. One person we spoke with told us, 'I've been asked to complete surveys, I'm happy with the support I receive.'