Bradbury Outreach Services

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection three people received support with personal care.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People received a good service provided by staff who were kind, caring and committed. Families told us they were happy with the support and that communication was good. People were supported to take part in a range of activities of their choice. One person told us how they liked to go to cafes with their support worker. We also heard about various activities at a local farm that people were supported to take part in.

People were safe. The service did face some challenges with recruitment and staffing and there were occasions when families reported that unplanned absence of staff had not been covered. However, in the main there were sufficient staff to cover the needs of the care packages. Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks were carried out on newly recruited staff before they began working for the agency. For one person we noted that the provider’s recruitment policy of having two references in place prior to commencing work had not been adhered to. This was discussed with the registered manager.

Arrangements were in place for the safe administration of medicines. There was good communication in place between families and staff to ensure medicines were safely managed.

Staff were well supported in their training and supervision and felt comfortable raising any issues with senior staff. Training covered a range of subjects relevant to the needs of people using the service. Staff told us they were happy and proud to work for the service.

Care was person centred and took account of individual needs and preferences. Care plans reflected this. Staff worked with people consistently and got to know them well. We saw how staff understood people’s communication needs, for example by using Makaton signs. There was a procedure in place to manage complaints. There had been no formal complaints in the last 12 months relating to the regulated activity of personal care.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The service was well led. The service was person centred in nature and built around people’s individual needs. There was a clear management structure in place and senior staff had delegated responsibilities to support the registered manager in their role. There were systems in place to check the quality of the service provided.

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published 30 June 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Bradbury Outreach on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

Bradbury Outreach Services provides personal care and support to people with learning disabilities who live in their own homes in Somerset and North East Somerset. At the time of our inspection the service was providing personal care and support to two people.

A registered manager was in post at the time of inspection. 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.

The provider operated safe recruitment procedures and ensured all pre-employment requirements were completed. Staff had received appropriate training to identify and respond to suspected abuse.

People received effective support from staff that had the skills and knowledge to meet their needs. The provider ensured that new staff completed an induction training programme which prepared them for their role.

People’s rights were upheld in line with the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. This is a legal framework to protect people who are unable to make certain decisions themselves.

Records showed that staff liaised with other healthcare professionals when it was appropriate to do so. This helped to ensure there was good communication and sharing of information about the person’s care needs.

Before people commenced a care package with the service, a full assessment of their needs was undertaken with the individual and other interested parties. This included gathering full information about the person’s care needs and their views on the kind of support they wished to receive.

People and their representatives spoke positively about the staff and told us they were caring.

People were given the opportunity to feedback their experience of the service through care planning reviews and surveys.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided by the service. There were quality audits in place reviewing the individual support plans, mental capacity assessments, supervision, training, feedback from individuals and staff rotas. Where improvements could be made action plans were implemented.