AVH Care

There was a small staff team of four, which included the registered manager and provider of the agency being involved in the delivery of each care package. This meant care was consistent and staff knew people and their needs very well.

There had been improvements to the care plans and risk assessments which allowed staff to deliver safe and consistent care to people. Plans were much more person centred and included health conditions and what staff should do to best support people.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Where people were taking risks because they wished to remain in their own home, the service had considered how best to reduce such risks. This had been done in conjunction with the advice of other healthcare professionals.

Since the last inspection, some key staff training had taken place, but this was still work in progress. This was because they were a very small staff team so finding the right times for training sometimes proved difficult.

The registered manager had worked hard to ensure quality audits were being used meaningfully to help drive up improvement. For example, in medicines management. However, it was too soon to judge whether this was fully embedded and could be sustained. The provider had deliberately chosen to restrict the service to support only three people. These people had been having a service for some time, so their needs were well known. We were unable to judge how robust systems and improvements will be sustained once the service grows and takes on more people.