Active Care In The Home – Brownbill

Brownbill Associates provides a brokerage service for people with an acquired disability to enable people to employ their own carers. The agency acts as an intermediary between the person needing the service and specialist agencies who supply people to provide the care (care workers). Brownbill Associates supply case managers that provide training and support to carers directly employed by people receiving support. At the time of the inspection 88 people were using the service.

At our last inspection we rated the service Good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of Good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

Why the service is rated Good:

People remained safe. Risk assessments were carried out and promoted positive risk taking which enabled people to live their lives as they chose. People received their medicines safely. The service had robust recruitment procedures which ensured there were sufficient, skilled and qualified staff to meet people's needs.

People continued to receive effective care from staff who had the skills and knowledge to support them and meet their needs. People were supported to have choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the procedures in the service supported this practice. People were supported to access health professionals when needed and staff worked closely with people's GPs to ensure their health and well-being was monitored.

The service continued to provide support in a caring way. Staff supported people with kindness and compassion. Staff respected people as individuals and treated them with dignity. People were involved in decisions about their care needs and the support they required to meet those needs.

People had access to information about their care and staff supported people in their preferred method of communication. Staff also provided people with emotional support.

The service continued to be responsive to people's needs and ensured people were supported in a personalised way. People's changing needs were responded to promptly and their views were sought and acted upon.

The service was well led by a manager who promoted a service that put people at the forefront of all the service did. There was a positive culture that valued people, relatives and staff and promoted a caring ethos. The manager was in a process of registering with the Care Quality Commission.

The manager monitored the quality of the service and strived for continuous improvement. There was a very clear vision to deliver high quality care and support and promote a positive culture that was person-centred, open and inclusive. This achieved positive outcomes for people and contributed to their quality of life.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found