Archived: Waymarks Limited

Updated 27 July 2016

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 31 May and 2 June 2016. It was carried out by one inspector and was announced. We gave the manager prior notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to make sure someone would be in the office.

Before the inspection the manager completed 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. We looked at the PIR and at all the information we had collected about the service. This included previous inspection reports and notifications the provider had sent us. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to tell us about by law.

We spoke with two people using the service, two relatives and received feedback from seven support workers. We also spoke with the manager, service manager, operations assistant and quality & compliance manager. We also asked health and social care professionals for their feedback.

We looked at four people's health and care management records including support plans, daily records, health action plans and medication administration records. We also looked at the recruitment files of eight support staff and staff training records. We saw a number of documents relating to the management of the service including quality audits, meeting minutes, complaints records and incident and accident reports.

Updated 27 July 2016

This inspection took place on 31 May and 2 June 2016 and was announced. We gave the manager prior notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to make sure someone would be in the office.

Waymarks Limited provides personal care to people living in their own homes. The service provides 24 hour support to people who have complex histories which can include risky behaviours as defined in transforming care. Waymarks provides individualised services to people with learning disabilities and/or autism, which encourage learning and enhance their community integration and participation. People are supported by a person who acts as a role model to build empathy, social functioning and reduce behavioural challenges.

At the time of our inspection there were four people using the service and receiving personal care. They lived in separate accommodation in supported living facilities. The provider supports additional people in the community but they do not receive personal care. This inspection and report only relates to the four people receiving the regulated activity of personal care. Those receiving support but not receiving personal care are outside the regulatory remit of the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The service did not have a registered manager. 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. However, the manager who was present throughout the inspection had applied to become the registered manager of the service.

Staff training records indicated which training was considered mandatory by the provider. Not all staff had received their mandatory training. The provider was monitoring and addressing the gaps in the training with staff on the regular basis. Staff said they felt supported to do their job and could ask for help when needed.

Staff had a good understanding of how to keep people safe and their responsibilities for reporting accidents, incidents or concerns. Staff had the knowledge and confidence to identify safeguarding concerns and acted on these to keep people safe.

The manager assessed and monitored the quality of care consistently with the help of staff and other members of company management. We found some incomplete records. However, this was being addressed and work was in progress.

There were safe medicines administration systems in place and people received their medicines when required. People's health and wellbeing was monitored and appropriate action was taken when required.

People were supported by sufficient staff to meet their individual needs. Safe recruitment practices were followed before new staff were employed to work with people. Checks were made to ensure staff were of good character and suitable for their role.

People were treated with respect and their privacy and dignity were promoted. People said their care and support workers were good and supported them in the way they wanted them to. Staff were responsive to the needs of the people they supported and enabled them to improve and maintain their independence with personal care. There were some activities arranged for each person. Risks to people’s personal safety were assessed and plans were in place to minimise those risks.

People received support that was individualised to their specific needs. Their needs were monitored and support plans were kept under review and amended as changes occurred. Staff were aware of their responsibilities to ensure people's rights to make their own decisions, where possible, were protected and promoted.

Quality assurance systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service being delivered and the running of the service. A number of improvements were ongoing to ensure people received the best support. Staff felt they worked well together and felt management worked with them as a team which benefitted people.