Creative Support - Berkshire & Oxfordshire Services

At the time of the inspection a registered manager had been in post since July 2016. 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 knew how to keep people safe by reporting concerns promptly through the safeguarding procedure that was taught as part of the induction process. This was further followed through as a topic of discussion within team meetings and in individual supervision meetings. Systems and processes were in place to recruit staff who were suitable to work in the service and to protect people against the risk of abuse. There were sufficient numbers of suitably trained and experienced staff to ensure people's needs were met. Staff were matched to meet people's needs as per experience, knowledge, age and general personality, where possible. This was particularly noticeable within the service catering to support people with a primary diagnosis of a learning disability.

People using the service said they were very happy with the support and care provided. People and where appropriate their representatives confirmed they were fully involved in the planning and review of their care. Care plans focussed on the individual and recorded their personal preferences well. They reflected people's needs, and detailed risks that were specific to the person, with guidance on how to manage them effectively. The care plans within the older adults services were going through a process of being updated to similarly provide information as that seen within the learning disabilities service. This included information on why people liked to have support in a particular way and how this made them feel.

People told us communication with the service was good and they felt listened to. Communication methods were employed by the service that ensured people were able to be kept up to date with their support plans and with general information on the service. Where necessary these methods of communication were used to inform decisions made by the service, including recruitment of staff.

People we spoke with said they were treated with respect and staff preserved their dignity at all times. We did receive a concern about one member of staff that was passed on to the registered manager. We were kept abreast of the action taken against the member of staff that included disciplinary action and informing the local safeguarding team.

People were supported with their medicines by suitably trained, qualified and experienced staff. Medicines were managed safely and securely. People who could not make specific decisions for themselves had their legal rights protected. People's care plans showed that when decisions had been made about their care, where they lacked capacity, these had been made in the person's best interests.

People received care and support from staff who had good skills and knowledge to care for them. All staff received comprehensive induction, training and support from experienced members of staff. Staff reported feeling supported by the registered manager and said they were listened to if they raised concerns. The quality of the service was monitored regularly by the registered manager, and the regional director. A thorough quality assurance audit was completed annually with an action plan being generated. Feedback was encouraged from people, visitors and stakeholders and used to improve and make changes to the service. We found evidence of compliments and complaints that illustrated transparency in management.

Comprehensive audit systems were employed by the registered manager to ensure that all regulations were met.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found