Creative Support - Morecambe Service

The assessment was prompted in part by notification of a serious incident and in addition the service had not been inspected and rated since December 2019.

We assessed the quality statements from the key questions of safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

We have assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the service 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.

Staff knew how to report safety incidents which were investigated by the management team and immediate actions were taken, where required. Where there were safeguarding concerns, these were shared quickly and appropriately with the relevant authorities. The service worked with people and healthcare partners to establish and maintain safe systems of care, in which safety was managed or monitored. They made sure there was continuity of care, including when people moved between different services. Staff provided care to meet people’s needs that was safe, supportive and enabled people to do the things that mattered to them. The service detected and controlled potential risks in the care environment. The service made sure there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff, who received effective support, supervision and development. The provider assessed and managed the risk of infection. However, the service did not always make sure that medicines and treatments were safe and met people’s needs, capacities and preferences.

The provider made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them. The service planned and delivered people’s care and treatment with them, including what was important and mattered to them. The provider worked well across teams and services to support people. The service supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to maximise their independence, choice and control. The service routinely monitored people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. The service told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment.

The service always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. The service treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. The service promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. The provider listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. The service cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.

The service made sure people were at the centre of their care and treatment choices and they decided, in partnership with people, how to respond to any relevant changes in people’s needs. The service understood the diverse health and care needs of the people they support, so care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity. The service supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs. The provider made it easy for people to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. The provider made sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it. Staff and leaders actively listened to information about people who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes and tailored their care, support and treatment in response to this. People were supported to plan for important life changes, so they could have enough time to make informed decisions about their future, including at the end of their life.

The service had a shared vision, strategy and culture. The service had inclusive leaders at all levels who understood the context in which they delivered care, treatment and support and embodied the culture and values of their workforce and organisation. The service fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. The service valued diversity in their workforce. They worked towards an inclusive and fair culture by improving equality and equity for people who worked for them. The service understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services worked seamlessly for people. The service focused on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. However, governance systems in place to ensure safe and effective practice were not always effective.

We found a breach of the legal regulation good governance as systems in place to ensure medicines were administered safely were not always effective. We have asked the service for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.