KITE – Keep Independent Through Enablement provides short term assessment and enablement services to people in their own homes to help them be as independent as possible. The service is for people who have been discharged from hospital or whose health has deteriorated.

At the last inspection, the service was rated Good.

At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

There was a registered manager at the service. 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.

People using the service told us they felt safe in the presence of care workers. They praised them for their caring attitude and said they felt their wishes were respected and they were offered a choice. People were supported to regain their independence and each person had enablement plans which documented the goals that had been agreed with them. They said that care workers helped them to achieve their goals.

There was an emphasis on dignity in care at the service. The registered manager had been involved in running some workshops around dignity in care and was an active supporter of the campaign and had encouraged staff to become dignity champions. Care workers demonstrated passion and a real empathy for people when talking about how they ensured people were treated with dignity and respect.

Thorough assessments were completed when people had been referred and accepted into the service. These assessments were carried out by an enablement officer and an occupational therapist. Risk assessments were completed for people which included ways in which potential risk could be managed, any aids to support mobility or independence were identified and a care plan agreed with people.

Appropriate pre-employment checks were completed for new staff which helped to ensure they were suitable to work with people. New starters completed the Care Certificate as part of their induction and thereafter received annual mandatory training which helped to ensure their skills were up to date. Staff received regular supervision and yearly appraisals.

People were given information about how they could complain if they had concerns. Where complaints had been raised, these were recorded and responded to them in a timely manner.

Feedback was sought from people at regular intervals during the time they received a service. People were also able to feedback at the end of their support as part of the provider's quality assurance monitoring. Other monthly audits took place looking at a range of areas including complaints, training and quality of record keeping which helped to maintain good stands.

We received positive feedback from people using the service. The registered manager was approachable and was receptive to initiatives to try and improve the service.

The provider worked in partnership with a number of agencies which helped to ensure people received appropriate support.

The inspection took place on 16 December 2014 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service; we needed to be sure someone would be in. The previous inspection of the service had been on 14 November 2013 and the provider was meeting all of the regulations checked.

Wandsworth Home Care Service provides short term assessment and enablement services to people in their own homes to help them be as independent as possible. The service is for people who have been discharged from hospital or whose health has deteriorated.

The service is known to people who use the service as the Short Term Assessment and Reablement Team (START) however they are changing their name to Keep Independent Through Enablement (KITE).

There was no registered manager in post. This was a breach of Regulation 6 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Some of the things people who used the service told us were, ‘’They help you in any way’’, ‘’This is a very good service’’ and ‘’I cannot fault them’’. The majority of people were very happy with the service they had received and felt they had been supported to meet their needs.

One professional told us, ‘’The service is valued by the public’’. They said they had high expectations and assumptions about the quality of the service because they had consistently delivered high quality care and support.

People using the service were supported to stay safe. The staff had been trained to understand and respond to safeguarding concerns. People had the information they needed about this and felt the staff helped keep them safe. Risks had been assessed and people had the equipment they needed to stay safe and to support them to move safely around their environment. Staff arrived on time, stayed for the agreed length of time and provided the agreed care.

The staff had the training and support they needed to care for people. They took part in regular meetings with their manager and were employed in sufficient numbers. People using the service felt the staff were suitably skilled and competent.

People felt well cared for and had positive relationships with the staff who supported them. They felt their dignity was respected and told us the staff were kind and caring.

People using the service helped to create their own care plans. They received short term support from the provider to meet specific goals which they had agreed to. The provider worked with other professionals to make sure these needs were reassessed and people received on going care and support from other services if needed after the Wandsworth Home Care service stopped.

Although there was no registered manager in post, the provider had employed someone to manage the service. There were systems to monitor quality and to gain feedback from people who used the service and staff. There were plans to develop the service and these reflected analysis of feedback about how well the service had worked.

We spoke with nine people using or who had used the service, five staff members and the manager during our two announced visits to Wandsworth Home Care Service.

Comments from people using or had used the service included "I'm happy - definitely", "they come in and do what they have to, I'm quite happy" and "very good, they helped a lot". One person told us "words cannot express how wonderful they have been, I would like to keep them". Each person we spoke to told us that they were treated with dignity and respect by care staff and said they would recommend the service to their friends and family.

Staff working for the service described the care and support being provided as "wonderful", "fantastic" and "really good". The majority of care staff had worked for this service for many years with each individual speaking very positively about the team they worked in and the support provided to them.