24 November 2023
During an inspection looking at part of the service
North Short Term Support Service (STSS) – Alnwick is a domiciliary care agency, with a focus on reablement care, providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 25 people using the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were at the forefront of their care. Care was exceptionally personalised with people being supported to achieve their goals. Staff were passionate about providing the best care possible to people.
The provider was championing projects to help people’s reablement and alleviate pressure on the local healthcare systems. People were being supported whilst in hospital to help maintain their independence and skills, so they required less support on returning to the community.
The management team were constantly working to improve the service. Staff at all levels collaborated well to achieve excellent outcomes for people. Health and social care professionals praised the service’s management. Quality assurance checks were carried out to ensure people received good quality care. Lessons had been learnt from incidents.
The provider was committed to continuous improvements to the service. Often through effective partnership working with local healthcare, social and voluntary groups. Even the smallest pieces of feedback from staff and people was acted on.
People experienced good quality, consistent and safe care from reablement staff. Comments from people and their relatives were overwhelmingly positive. For example, on person said “When you’re feeling so dreadful it just gives you the boost you need to have such kind lovely people helping, they were simply amazing.”
People were safe from the risk of abuse. Risks were assessed and regularly reviewed when people's needs changed. People were supported in positive risk taking as part of their reablement.
Medicines were managed safely. The provider employed sufficient staff, who were trained appropriately and recruited safely. The provider championed staff training over and above the care certificate standard, with staff undertaking enhanced training in falls prevention.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was outstanding (published 1 June 2018).
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘All inspection reports and timeline’ link for North STSS on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.