Personal Assistant Services East

Personal Assistant Services – East is a domiciliary care agency which provides support and personal care to 24 people living at home or in supported living accommodation. The service supports people with a learning and or physical disability and or a mental illness. It also supports people who are living with dementia.

People’s experience of using this service:

Staffing shortages at team manager level had temporarily created a high workload at this level.

Some support plans lacked detail and they were not always up-to-date.

There were shortcomings identified in certain aspects of medicine record management.

Internal audits of people’s care and medical records were infrequent and not always effective.

Staff built close and trusting relationships with people.

People were supported to make their own decisions about their care and to be independent.

People were supported to pursue their own hobbies and interests.

Staff sought people’s consent and supported them in the least restrictive way possible. People were offered choices in their care.

People were cared for by staff who understood safeguarding principles.

Accidents and incidents were reported and acted upon. Lessons learnt were shared with staff.

Health care professionals were involved in people’s care.

Staff felt well supported by the registered manager, who led by example and created a caring and positive working culture.

The registered manager involved staff, people and other stakeholders in service development.

The service is in breach of Regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act (Regulated

Activities) Regulations 2014 in relation to governance.

Rating at last inspection:

Good (July 2016)

Why we inspected:

This was a scheduled, planned inspection based on the previous rating

Follow up:

Ongoing monitoring; action plan for improvement

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

There was 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.

People were supported by staff who understood safeguarding procedures and were able to recognise the signs of potential abuse.

Risks to people had been thoroughly assessed and plans put in place to manage these risks while enabling people to live their lives without unnecessary restriction.

Robust recruitment procedures had been employed to ensure that staff were suitable to work with people who used the service. There were sufficient numbers of staff deployed to meet people’s needs. Staff received comprehensive training to enable them to meet people’s needs.

People were given support if they needed it to take their medicines a prescribed. People’s nutritional needs were met and they were supported to access healthcare if they needed it.

People were supported by staff who showed respect and cared for them as individuals whilst maintaining their dignity. People were supported to make their own decisions where possible and their consent was sought appropriately.

People and those important to them were involved in planning their care, how it was delivered and their independence was promoted. People’s care was delivered in the way they wished by staff who were knowledgeable about their needs.

People who used the service and staff who supported them were able to express their views on the service. People were supported to make complaints and were confident that these would be heard and acted upon. The service maintained good communication with people who used the service and their families or housing providers.

The management maintained a good overview of the service and had systems in place to monitor the safety and quality of the service. Staff were supported by the management and felt valued by the organisation.