Kingswood Care Services Ltd - Head Office

People's experience of using this service:

There were systems in place to help make sure people were protected from the risk of abuse. Staff were aware of safeguarding procedures and understood how to protect the people they supported.

Risks to people's safety were identified, assessed and action was taken to keep people safe. When people were at risk, staff had access to assessments and understood the actions needed to minimise avoidable harm.

There were enough staff deployed to meet people's needs and all relevant pre-employment checks were undertaken to ensure they were safe to work with people in the community.

Medicines were administered and managed safely by trained and competent staff. Staff had knowledge of safe hygiene practices to support people around infection control.

When there had been incidents, the provider had learnt lessons and put improvements in place.

People were supported by staff who had the necessary skills and knowledge to understand and meet their needs. Staff felt supported and had access to training relevant to their roles.

People were supported to do their shopping, prepare their meals, and eat healthily. People were positively encouraged and supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

Staff had formed positive caring relationships with people who used the service and their relatives. People remained as independent as possible due to staff knowing people's individual likes and dislikes. Staff were mindful to support people in a way which maintained their dignity and upheld their right to privacy.

Governance arrangements were in place. The registered manager provided clear and direct leadership to staff who had a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities. The quality assurance and auditing system contributed to service delivery. However, some monitoring processes needed strengthening.

We made two recommendations for the provider to consider in relation to end of life care and monitoring the quality of the service.

Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection, the service was rated as Good (published 12 October 2016).