7 May 2019
During a routine inspection
Handley Care Services is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community and specialist housing. It provides a service to people living with a physical disability, learning disability, autism or sensory impairment.
This service provides care and support to people living in one 'supported living' setting, so that they can live in their own home as independently as possible. People's care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support. At the time of our inspection there were nine people using the service.
People's experience of using this service:
People's safety was promoted; staff understood how to protect people from the risk of harm and understood potential signs of abuse. People were involved in assessments of potential risks to their safety and in identifying measures to keep them safe. Care plans provided clear guidance for staff to follow.
People were supported by a consistent team of staff who were safely recruited. People received their medicines as prescribed and were protected from the risk of infections through staff working practices.
Staff received training, supervision and support so they could effectively perform their roles and meet people needs. People were provided with care and support that ensured they had good nutrition and hydration and access to healthcare that maintained their health and wellbeing.
People were supported to have choice and control over their care and support in the least restrictive way possible.
People and those important to them were involved in the planning and development of their care and support. Staff were skilled at enabling people to communicate their choices and decisions. Staff were described as very caring, understanding, patient and supportive. Staff knew people well and used this knowledge to provide personalised care. Staff respected and promoted people's rights, including their right to be treated with respect and dignity.
People were supported to develop new skills, maintain relationships and engage in meaningful activities and interests. Staff forged links with the local services to enable people to be a part of their local community. People and relatives knew how to raise a concern or complaint. The provider's complaints policy provided information about how these would be managed and responded to.
The manager was actively involved in the day to day provision of care and support and as such had a good oversight into the quality of the service provided. They intended to develop systems to formalise the recording of outcomes of checks and audits as part of overall quality assurance.
People, relatives and staff spoke positively about the management and leadership of the service, as being open and transparent. The manager listened to feedback and took action to make improvements to the service. Staff were encouraged to share ideas about how to develop the service. The service worked in partnership with external agencies to ensure people achieved the best possible outcomes from their care and support.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Rating at last inspection:
At our last inspection the service was rated as Good. Our last report was published on 18 June 2016.
Why we inspected:
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up:
We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.