Archived: Wasdale Children's Resource Centre

Updated 25 August 2017

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

This inspection took place on 3, 4 and 5 July 2017 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service; we needed to be sure that someone would be in.

The inspection team consisted of one adult social care inspector and an expert-by-experience. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. Their area of expertise is in relation to children and young people who use care services.

We reviewed information we held about the service, such as notifications, information from the local authority and from Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion which gathers information about people’s experiences of using health and social care in England.

Prior to this inspection the registered provider had not been asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection we spoke with two relatives. At the time of inspection one relative’s family member was receiving support from Wasdale Children’s Resource Centre and the other relative’s family member had recently used the service. We carried out a home visit and spoke to one relative over the telephone. We also spoke with three members of care staff, the registered manager and the two assistant managers.

We looked at a variety of documentation including; care documentation for three people, three staff recruitment files, meeting minutes, policies and procedures and quality monitoring records.

Updated 25 August 2017

The inspection was carried out on 3, 4 and 5 July 2017 and was announced. Wasdale Children’s Resource Centre provides personal care for children with a disability. This service is provided on a short term basis as an interim package of care, for example, when a carer needs additional short term support. The domiciliary care service is available between 7am and 9pm Monday to Friday. Referrals are made through the Social Work Team. At the time of our inspection Wasdale Children’s Resource Centre provided personal care for one person.

Wasdale Children’s Resource Centre has not been previously inspected.

There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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.

Both relatives told us they felt their family member was safe. There had been no safeguarding incidents to report since the service registered with the CQC. The registered manager was clear regarding what incidents they were required to report to the local authority safeguarding team and the CQC.

The service used permanent staff members from Wasdale children’s residential home to provide the domiciliary care support. Staff told us there were enough staff to meet people’s needs and they had sufficient time to deliver care. Appropriate recruitment procedures were in place.

In some care files, for people who had previously accessed the service, we found appropriate risk assessments were in place in relation to the domiciliary care service being provided. However, one person did not have a risk assessment to cover their needs. This is a breach of Regulation 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

The provider did not have a medicines policy and procedure in relation to their domiciliary care service. This is a further breach of Regulation 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

Staff told us they had regular supervisions which they found useful. We recommend that the provider has a standing item on the supervision forms to discuss the domiciliary care service to ensure issues are not overlooked.

All mandatory training was kept up to date. We saw evidence this was the case for the permanent members of staff who provided the domiciliary care service.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. All the staff members we spoke with understood the importance of respecting choices people made, and people’s right to refuse care and support.

The relatives we spoke with confirmed staff worked at a pace to suit their relatives and staff treated their family members with respect. The relatives we spoke with stated they either would speak to the manager or their relative's social worker if they needed to make a complaint but neither had had to make a complaint. We recommend that the provider considers the information provided in their statement of purpose regarding the services offered by Wasdale Children’s Resource Centre. There was no information regarding the complaints process to follow if a person wished to complain about the service regulated by the CQC.

Staff told us they felt supported in their role and that the management team listened to them. We saw regular team meetings were held in relation to all Wasdale Children’s Resource Centre services and where appropriate the domiciliary care service was discussed. We recommend that the provider has a standing item on the team meeting agenda to discuss the domiciliary care service to ensure issues are not overlooked.

We looked at the systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service. Although feedback from people had been obtained, issues had not always been addressed. We found there were no clear and effective systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service. The registered manager told us they were no dedicated audit processes in place to monitor the quality of the service provision in relation to the domiciliary care service. The registered manager had begun to address this issue at the end of the inspection.

These findings demonstrate a breach of Regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.