Crossroads Care Kent

Updated 29 February 2020

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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

Inspection was carried out by one inspector

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provided support and respite to people’s relatives and personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

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. This was to ensure the registered manager would be available to support the inspection and to allow time for relatives and people to be asked if we could contact them for feedback.

Inspection activity started on 19 December 2019 and ended on 06 January 2020. We visited the office location on 19 December 2019. We carried out telephone calls to people, their relatives and staff on 06 January 2020.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse or when a person dies. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with one person who used the service and eight relatives. The majority of the people who used the service were unable to communicate with us. We also spoke with three staff, the registered manager, the senior care manager, office and communication manager, the urgent care team manager and two care managers. All these staff were part of the Crossroads team.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people's care records, risk assessments, daily records and health records. We also looked at three staff files including their recruitment, supervision and training records. We reviewed records relating to the management of the service, quality assurance records and audits. We also looked at other records the provider kept, such as surveys people, relatives and staff had completed to share their views.

Updated 29 February 2020

About the service

Crossroads Care Kent is a charity organisation providing home and emergency respite care services for carers in Kent. They support family carers to have a break from caring for their loved ones. When needed, staff provided personal care for people in their own homes. The staff supported younger and older people with a wide range of different needs and conditions. The service also supported people at the end of their lives and in times of crisis. At the time of our inspection there were 32 people receiving personal care.

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.

People's experience of using this service:

People and their relatives benefitted from a service which was well-led. The service was run and had developed around the needs of people, their relatives and staff. The registered manager and the management team were continually looking for ways to improve and develop the service. They had formed strong and stable working relationships with other key organisations within the local community and were trusted to assess and meet people's needs, including at short notice. The service had an open, caring, inclusive, person-centred culture where innovation was encouraged and supported. Staff told us they were able to use their knowledge to assist in developing the service as their ideas were welcomed and encouraged.

People received consistent care from longstanding staff many who had worked with them several years. People's care was arranged to provide a support service to enable the main family carer some respite. Staff told us they had time to spend with people and were able to build positive and trusting relationships with people and their carers. The service valued consistency and continuity by making sure the staff were well matched with carers and the people they cared for. People were supported to stay safe in their own homes. Any potential risks to people’s safety had been assessed and steps had been taken to keep any risks to a minimum.

People's needs were assessed before they received supported by the service. Each person had a care plan that reflected their preferences and routines. The arrangements for care and support were tailored to them to include longer duration and shorter frequency of visits by staff. This ensured the service was responding to people's needs in the way they needed.

Care plans held sufficient information to guide staff on how best to meet people's needs and they were regularly reviewed and updated. Staff encouraged and supported people to be as independent as possible. During the visits, staff followed people's usual care routines. They supported people with meaningful activities both within their homes and in the local community. Staff were recruited safely and all the required safety checks had been done. There were systems in place to maintain people's confidentiality.

People and relatives spoke very positively about the staff and the service they received. They told us staff were kind, caring and compassionate.

People were protected from the risk of abuse. Staff had received training and understood how to keep people safe. They told us they felt confident to raise any concerns they had about people's safety. People knew how to complain, and complaints were investigated and responded to appropriately.

People’s medicines were managed safely. Staff who supported people with their medicines had completed the required training and had access to medicines policies and best practice guidelines to support their practice. Staff had received infection control training and followed good practice to minimise the risk of infection being spread.

Staff were skilled and knowledgeable. They had received training that equipped them to fulfil their role and had opportunities to do further training to meet specific needs of people using the service. A relative told us, "The (care support worker) is amazing. They have lots of knowledge about a lot of different things. They seem to able to cope with any situation.”

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.

Generally people’s meals and healthcare needs remained the responsibility of the family carer. However, staff made sure people had enough to eat and drink when they were in their home or out in the community. Staff were aware of people’s health care needs. They knew what to do and who to contact if people became unwell while they were supporting them.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published 24 February 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

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