Archived: Linkage Community Trust 168 Wetmore Road

We inspected this service on 9 January 2017 and the inspection was announced. This meant the provider and staff knew we would be visiting the service’s office before we arrived. At our previous inspection on the 16 October 2015 the provider was not meeting all the regulations relating to the Health and Social Care Act 2008. This was because they had failed to act in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 Act where people were unable to give consent to care and treatment. The provider sent us a report in December 2015 explaining the actions they had and were taking to improve. At this inspection, we found improvements had been made,

The service was registered to provide personal care for people. At the time of our inspection six people with a learning disability were supported by the provider within their own home.

The service had a 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.

Staff had knowledge about people’s care and support needs to enable support to be provided in a safe way that minimised any identified risks. Where people’s movements were restricted to maintain their safety, we saw that assessments had been undertaken to ensure the least restrictive methods were used in supporting the person.

People were protected against the risk of abuse, as checks were made to confirm staff were of good character and suitable to work in a care environment. Staff understood what constituted abuse or poor practice and systems and processes were in place to protect people from the risk of harm. There was sufficient staff available to support people and they were supported to take their medicine as prescribed.

People received support from trained staff. The staff received support and supervision, to monitor their performance and develop their skills. Staff knew about people’s individual capacity to make decisions and understood how to support people to make their own decisions. People’s needs and preferences were met when they were supported with their dietary needs and people were supported to maintain good health.

The delivery of care was tailored to meet people’s individual needs and preferences. The provider included people and their representatives in the planning of care. There were processes in place for people to raise any complaints and express their views and opinions about the service provided. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service to enable the registered manager and provider to drive improvement.

People told us they received the care, treatment and support that met their individual needs. People confirmed they were happy with how the support was provided and had developed good relationships with the small team of staff. We saw that people looked relaxed and comfortable with staff.

We were informed that the staff respected people's privacy and dignity, and took account of what they had to say in relation to the way their care was provided. People had individual care records which informed staff how people wanted to be supported. They were written in a style that people could understand and people using the service confirmed they had been involved with their support plan.

People told us they were supported to be independent, and enjoyed social activities including going to college, playing football and playing darts at the local pub. This meant people were involved in everyday ordinary activities of their choosing.

The staff were able to identify the signs of abuse and knew what to do if they had any concerns. People using the service told us that they felt safe.