Archived: Avante Maidstone Branch

Updated 2 December 2015

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 29 October and 4 November 2015 and was announced. The inspection was supported by the Avante community services director as the registered manager was not available on the day of the inspection. The inspection team consisted of an inspector and an expert by experience. The expert-by-experience had a background in caring for elderly people and understood how this type of service worked.

Before the inspection, we looked at previous inspection reports and notifications about important events that had taken place at the service, which the provider is required to tell us by law. Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We spoke with 15 people about their experience of the service. We spoke with ten staff including the Avante community services director, the Avante pharmacy advisor, two senior carers, and six care workers to gain their views about the service. We asked six health and social care professionals for their views of the service. We spoke with the registered manager after the inspection.

We spent time looking at records, policies and procedures, complaint and incident and accident monitoring systems. We looked at ten people’s care files, 15 staff record files, the staff training programme, the staff rota and medicine records.

At the previous inspection on 24 July 2013, the service had met the standards of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010.

Updated 2 December 2015

This inspection took place on 29 October and 4 November 2015 and was announced.

Avante Branch Maidstone provides care services to people in their own homes mainly in Kent. The care they provided was tailored to people’s needs so that people could maintain or regain their independence. This included older people, younger adults and people with complex health needs such as epilepsy, diabetes and physical disabilities. There were 141 people using the service at the time of our inspection.

There was a registered manager employed at the service. 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.

Staff were trusted and well thought of by the people they cared for. People spoke about the staff in a positive light regarding their feelings of being safe and well cared for. They thought that staff were caring and compassionate.

The registered manager assessed people’s needs and planned people’s care to maintain their safety, health and wellbeing. Risks were assessed by staff to protect people. There were systems in place to monitor incidents and accidents.

Staff had received training about protecting people from abuse and showed a good understanding of what their responsibilities were in preventing abuse. Procedures for reporting any concerns were in place. The registered manager knew how and when they should escalate concerns to the local authorities and understood the safeguarding protocols.

The registered manager and staff had received training about the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and understood when and how to support peoples best interest if they lacked capacity to make certain decisions about their care.

Working in community settings staff often had to work on their own, but they were provided with good support and an ‘Outside Office Hours’ number to call during evenings and at weekends if they had concerns about people. The service could continue to run in the event of emergencies arising so that people’s care would continue. For example, when there was heavy snow or if there was a power failure at the main office.

Staff were recruited safely and had been through a selection process that ensured they were fit to work with people who needed safeguarding. Recruitment policies were in place that had been followed. Safe recruitment practices included background and criminal records checks prior to staff starting work.

Some people needed more than one member of staff to provide support to them. The registered manager ensured that they could provide a workforce who could adapt and be flexible to meet people’s needs and when more staff were needed to deliver care they were provided.

People felt that staff were well trained and understood their needs. They told us that staff looked at their care plans and followed the care as required. People told us that staff discussed their care with them so that they could decide how it would be delivered.

Staff had been trained to administer medicines safely and staff spoke confidently about their skills and abilities to do this well. If staff needed to use equipment in people’s homes, they were trained how to use it and checked it was safe.

The registered manager gave staff guidance about supporting people to eat and drink enough. People were pleased that staff encouraged them to keep healthy through eating a balanced diet and drinking enough fluids. Care plans were kept reviewed and updated.

There were policies in place which ensured people would be listened to and treated fairly if they complained. The registered manager ensured that people’s care met their most up to date needs and any issues raised were dealt with to people’s satisfaction.

People were happy with the leadership and approachability of the service’s registered manager. Staff felt well supported by the registered manager and other staff responsible for leading the service delivery. The registered manager and organisation carried out checks on the quality of the service and audited risk to keep people safe.