Background to this inspection
Updated
3 July 2019
The inspection:
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team:
The inspection was conducted by one adult social care inspector.
Service and service type:
The service is a domiciliary care agency who also provide a supported living service.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection:
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in the office.
The inspection site visit activity started on 27 March 2019 and ended 28 March 2019. We visited the office location on both days to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.
What we did:
Prior to the inspection we reviewed information and evidence we already held about the care service, which had been collected via our ongoing monitoring of care services. This included notifications sent to us by the care service. Notifications are changes, events or incidents that the provider is legally obliged to send to us without delay. We also asked for feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the agency.
Prior to the inspection we asked the service to complete a Provider Information Return, which is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used this information to help plan the inspection.
During the inspection we spoke with four people who used the service, the registered manager and two care staff.
Updated
3 July 2019
Link-Ability is a small domiciliary care service which provides support to people living in their own homes. The agency office is located in a business centre on the outskirts of Heywood town centre.
The level and hours of support vary depending on the needs and wishes of people. Support may include helping people to maintain their own tenancy, provide assistance with domestic tasks, food preparation, personal care and daily activities. The service currently provided person care and support to 20 people.
People’s experience of using this service:
People made many decisions about the way they were cared for. This ensured they were treated as individuals and with dignity.
The service put people first and ensured their views were incorporated into the plans of care.
People were able to attend meetings and complete surveys to ensure they had a say in how the service was run.
The service supported people to attend activities and meetings with particular regard to the protected characteristics of age, gender, sexuality, spirituality or religion and to form relationships.
People told us staff were kind and they liked living within the supported housing service.
We saw staff were able to discuss sensitive topics in an open and transparent way with people who used the service and how they responded in a confident way.
The registered manager and other staff were involved with many other organisations to improve support and care in the wider community. This included ways to minimise stress on public transport and hospitalisation.
The administration of medicines was safe, and the service were involved in ways to reduce the medicines people with a learning disability or autism took.
Staff were recruited robustly and there were enough well trained staff to meet the care needs of people who used the service.
Staff were able to train to become champions in specific areas to provide better care for people who used the service and provide support to staff in their areas of expertise. Staff also had incentives to take further training or become involved in improvement initiatives.
People’s end of life wishes were respected, including any preference they had for the funeral arrangements.
Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection (report published 07 October 2016) the service was rated as good.
Why we inspected: This inspection was part of our scheduled plan of visiting services to check the safety and quality of care people received.
Follow up: We will continue to monitor information and intelligence we receive about the care service remains safe and of good quality. We will return to re-inspect in line with our inspection timescales for good services, however if any information of concern is received, we may inspect sooner.