Stepping Stones Services

Updated 11 July 2018

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 May 2018 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because we wanted to make sure the registered manager and staff would be available to speak with us. The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector.

Before the inspection we looked at previous inspection reports and notifications received from the provider. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law. We reviewed the Provider Information Record (PIR) before the inspection. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, this tells us what the service does well and the improvements they plan to make. This ensured we were addressing any areas of concern. We also spoke to the local authority and the local Healthwatch, they had no negative comments about the service.

We spoke with seven people who used the service, two relatives, six care staff, the registered manager and the managing director. We also contacted ten health and social care professionals for their view of the service. We looked at three people’s care records, three staff files and ten medicine administration records. We reviewed a range of records relating to the management of the service. We looked at a variety of policies and procedures including safeguarding, complaints, mental capacity and deprivation of liberty, recruitment, accidents and incidents and equality and diversity.

Updated 11 July 2018

Stepping Stones is a domiciliary care service that also provides supported living accommodation. The office is situated in Rochdale. The service is registered to provide personal care and support to adults. At the time of our inspection care was being provided to 28 people. 10 people lived in supported living and 18 people were receiving support in their own homes.

The service was last inspected in March 2016. The service did not have a registered manager in place at that time . The service have since recruited a registered manager.

A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (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.

The registered manager and staff understood their role and responsibilities to keep people safe from harm. Risks were assessed and plans put in place to keep people safe. Checks were carried out prior to staff being employed to assess their suitability to support vulnerable people.

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. We found that leadership at the service had improved and was now good. We found that the responsiveness of the service had improved and was now outstanding.

We observed excellent relationships between people and observed the senior management team and staff interacting with people in a caring, good humoured and friendly manner. Management and staff demonstrated exceptional insight and understanding of people's personal preferences and needs. People appeared happy and relaxed and we overheard much laughter and observed meaningful interactions during our visit.

People's needs were assessed before using the service and on an ongoing basis to reflect changes in their needs. Clear and well thought out arrangements were in place for people who were moving into the supported living service which helped to significantly reduce possible anxiety about this change.

There were enough staff so people could take part in the activities they wished and be supported in meeting their individual needs. People had access to activities that were important and relevant to them, both inside and outside their home. They were protected from social isolation because of the exceptional support and exhaustive range of opportunities offered by staff.

There were systems and processes in place to protect people from harm. People had their medicines administered safely. Staff had a good understanding about the signs of abuse and were aware of what to do if they suspected abuse was taking place.

The service had developed positive working relationships with health and social care professionals which led to joint working to expand people's communication skills.

A robust system for staff recruitment, induction and training was in place. This enabled the staff to support people effectively and safely.

Effective quality assurance audits were in place to monitor the service. The service regularly sought feedback from the people who used the service and their relatives. Staff had regular supervisions and were invited to team meetings.

There was a strong organisational commitment and effective action towards ensuring that there was equality and inclusion across the workforce. There was high levels of satisfaction across all staff and staff told us they were listened to by the managers.