Rainbow Trust Children's Charity 6

Updated 17 January 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. 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 carried out by two inspectors.

Service and service type:

Rainbow Trust Children's Charity 6 offers personal care and emotional support to children experiencing very serious illness. Support is given to both the children, their siblings, parents and when appropriate their

extended family. Support is flexible to meet the changing needs of the children and their family.

Notice of inspection:

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection:

We used the information the registered manager sent us in the provider information return (PIR). 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 reviewed the evidence we had about the service. This included any notifications of significant events, such as serious injuries or safeguarding referrals. Notifications are information about important events

which the provider is required to send us by law.

During the inspection:

We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager, two national managers and support workers. We checked care records for four people, including assessments, care plans and risk assessments. We looked at five staff files including two volunteer workers. We also looked at recruitment records, quality audits and training records.

After the inspection:

We spoke with three relatives by telephone about the care and support their families received. We also continued to liaise with the national manager to clarify some additional information provided.

Updated 17 January 2020

About the service:

Rainbow Trust Children's Charity 6 provides personal care and emotional support to children with serious illnesses. This is provided in people's homes, hospitals and in the community. Support workers provide support to both the children and their family members. The service was providing support to 86 children aged from birth to 19 years old and their families. 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 this inspection there were four children under the age of 16 who might on occasion require personal care.

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

Relatives said they were supported by support workers who were kind and caring. Some families had been receiving support from consistent support workers for three to four years, whereas other families had been receiving care and support for shorter periods of time. Relatives told us having the support worker was like an addition to their family.

Children were supported to stay safe as support workers understood their responsibility to report any concerns and follow guidance in place in relation to people’s individual risks. The Trust had a robust assessment process in place alongside its referral criteria. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and support workers supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Support workers understood equality and diversity. Children’s care plans were detailed, and support workers used these to understand the care people required. Care plans had been developed around the needs of the whole family. Children were included within the planning and reviewing of care where this was possible due to age. Families were always included and were always the driving force behind what care and support was required. Children’s privacy and dignity were respected, and their independence promoted.

Relatives told us they were supported and encouraged to participate in events organised by The Rainbow Trust. Relatives told us this was a good opportunity to meet other families and talk to other people going through similar situations. Siblings of children receiving care had taken part in siblings’ days out where they were supported to be develop their own independence and receive support from support workers.

Relatives told us they felt the support provided by the Rainbow Trust had been consistently good and support workers had been flexible and compassionate to meet their needs as a family. Relatives told us they thought highly of the management team. The registered manager was responsive and wanted to improve the service to benefit families who received support now and in the future.

Quality assurance audits were carried out to help ensure the service provided safe and of high quality. Actions identified from these audits were addressed. Children, relatives and professionals were asked for their feedback and this was used to help improve the service. Management and support workers worked alongside other agencies to help improve the support people received.

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

Rating at last inspection and update:

The last rating for this service was good (published 07 February 2017).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor intelligence 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.