A Familys Best Friend

Updated 5 February 2019

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 comprehensive inspection took place between 19 December 2018 and 14 January 2019. The inspection was announced. We gave the registered provider 48 hours’ notice as the service is small and we needed to be sure someone would be at the office to assist us with the inspection process.

The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector.

Before the inspection took place, we spoke with the local authority contracts teams, we received no information of concern.

At the time of the inspection visit 16 people were receiving regulated activity.

As part of the inspection process we reviewed information held upon our database regarding the service. This included notifications submitted by the registered provider relating to incidents, health and safety and safeguarding concerns which affect the health and wellbeing of people. We used this information provided to inform our inspection plan.

We spoke with four people and four relatives to seek their views on how the service was managed. Additionally, we reviewed written feedback provided by a further four relatives and four people who used the service.

We also spoke with the registered provider, and three members of staff who were responsible for providing care and support to people.

To gather information, we visited one person at their home and attended a Saturday club where young people were receiving support. We did this so we could observe interactions between people and staff.

Additionally, we looked at a variety of records. This included care plan records relating to three people who used the service and recruitment records of two staff members. We also looked at other information related to the management of the service. This included health and safety certification, policies and procedures and accidents and incidents records.

Updated 5 February 2019

A Familys Best Friend is a domiciliary care service which provides personal care, babysitting and recreational services to children and adults with disabilities in Lancaster and Morecambe.

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

At this inspection visit we found the service remained good.

Why the service is rated good.

The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

People continued to receive personalised care which was responsive to individual need. Staff had an excellent understanding of people’s individual needs so care could be provided with support which was individual to them. Services were flexible and people and their families could decide how and when their care was provided.

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. Consent to care and treatment was actively sought.

Systems, processes and practices were embedded to safeguard people from abuse and risk of harm. Good practice guidance had been followed to keep people safe.

People continued to receive support from a reliable staff team. We were told staff were always punctual and reliable.

The registered provider understood the importance of using technology to ensure effective and responsive care was provided. Technology was used to ensure care plans and associated documents were up to date and reflective of people’s care needs.

People and relatives told us staff were empathetic and motivated to provide compassionate care. There was an emphasis on privacy, dignity and human rights.

The registered provider was responsive in seeking feedback from people and relatives to ensure people were happy with the service provided. At the time of our inspection visit people and relatives told us they had no complaints about the service.

People and relatives and all agreed the service was well managed. Everyone praised the skills of the registered provider.

People and relatives praised the way in which safety and risk was managed.

Staff said they enjoyed working for A Familys Best Friend. They told us the registered provider was approachable, knowledgeable and committed to their work.

People received care which was regularly reviewed and support was based around good practice evidence. Staff were supported with continuous learning to ensure they had the correct skills to provide effective person-centred care.

Governance was embedded within the service and was based upon good practice guidance.

The registered provider understood the importance of providing holistic health care. We saw there was an emphasis on promoting independence and increasing community presence.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.