About the service Ashford Personnel and Solutions is an agency which provides care and support to people living in two supported living schemes and in their own homes. The service is currently supporting 19 people. 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. The service is currently supporting four people with personal care with Learning Disabilities, Mental Health needs and physical limitations.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People we spoke with told us they feel safe in their homes with support from Ashford Personnel and Solutions. Staff had been recruited safely and were trained in different social and health conditions to provide effective care and there were suitable numbers to ensure all people’s needs could be met.
Staff assisted people to manage their homes and ensure they were clean and tidy, and staff supported people to minimise the risk of infections and stay as safe as possible during the COVID- 19 pandemic.
Systems and processes in place were relevant and appropriate and enabled the registered manager to have oversight of the quality of support being provided. The registered manager had an open approach to learning lessons from things which may have gone wrong and communicated these to staff to minimise the risk of reoccurrence.
People had comprehensive care and support plans which had been developed with them and key health and social care professionals involved in their support. These plans were personal and only contained relevant and appropriate information staff needed to support people they way they wished to be supported. Care plans were fluid and were changed and adapted based on what people wished to achieve. People were supported to do things which were important to them such as volunteering roles or shopping.
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 able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.
Right support:
• Model of care and setting maximises people’s choice, control and
independence
Right care:
• Care is person-centred and promotes people’s dignity, privacy and human
rights
Right culture:
• Ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people
using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives
The registered manager had a visible presence in the service where people lived. The registered manager told us they choose to work there instead of the main office so people can see them whenever they need to. People we spoke with were complimentary about the registered manager and one described the registered manager as their next of kin. We were told the registered manager was always available and supportive and people felt confident concerns raised would be dealt with promptly and correctly.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
This service was registered with us on 10/10/2018 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection as the service had not been inspected previously.
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.