The Recruitment Partnership

Improvements were required in the management of medicines to ensure safe and consistent practice across the service. This included strengthening medicine risk assessments, improving the accuracy of audits, and ensuring PRN protocols were clearly defined and followed. These shortfalls posed a risk to people’s safety and highlighted inconsistent approaches to medicines management.

Care records were not consistently updated, which created a risk of inconsistent care delivery, particularly by staff who were new or unfamiliar with people’s needs. The records did not always reflect the information shared by people and staff, meaning they failed to fully represent the personalised care being provided.

Governance systems were not robust or effective, which limited the provider’s ability to monitor and manage the service. Audits were either unavailable or lacked effectiveness, resulting in issues identified during inspection not being known to the provider. This demonstrated a lack of oversight and awareness of the improvements required and limited the provider’s ability to learn and improve the quality of care.

People were supported to make choices and were actively involved in planning and reviewing their care. Staff monitored people’s health, made appropriate referrals to professionals, and took action to maintain wellbeing, demonstrating a person-centred approach to care.

Staff were caring and compassionate, promoting choice and independence in ways people could understand. People’s privacy and dignity were respected, and care was delivered in line with their wishes. Diverse needs were acknowledged and met, with accessible information and communication support provided to ensure people’s voices were heard.

There were enough safely recruited staff available to meet people’s needs when required. Staff understood how to safeguard people from abuse and worked to protect them from the risk of infection. The registered manager was visible and approachable, and staff felt supported and listened to. Concerns and complaints were responded to appropriately and in line with the provider’s policy.

We have assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted

The provider was in breach of 2 legal regulations regarding medicine management, records and governance systems. We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.