About the service:

South Reablement Service is a reablement service that provides people with time limited care and support in their own homes. The service also provides support to people living within a small number of dedicated flats located in an extra care housing scheme. Most people using the service were older adults who had recently been discharged from hospital. At the time of our inspection the service was providing support to 59 people.

People’s experience of using this service:

• People told us care staff were usually on time and would let them know if they were running late. There had not been any incidences of missed calls, and the registered manager investigated any ‘near misses’.

• People were very satisfied with the service they received, and told us staff were kind, caring and respectful.

• Staff were aware of the values and aims of the service, which focussed on supporting people’s recovery and re-building their independence. Staff put people in contact with other services that may be able to provide longer-term support where this was needed.

• People were involved in planning their care and agreeing goals. Staff monitored people’s progress toward achieving their goals.

• The service was not following best-practice guidance in relation to the management of medicines. There was not a clear record of the medicines staff had prompted people to take. The current medicines policy was also restrictive and meant staff were limited in the support they could provide to people. A new medicines policy was being developed, but this had not been done in a timely way. We have made a recommendation in relation to medicines management.

• Staff received a range of training relevant to their job roles. They felt they received good support from the management team.

• The service worked effectively with other health and social care professionals to provide people with good quality, co-ordinated care.

• The registered manger had not submitted required information about a safeguarding incident to the CQC in a timely way.

Rating at last inspection:

We last inspected South Reablement Service in September 2016 when we rated the service good overall (report published November 2016).

Why we inspected:

This was a routine comprehensive inspection. The inspection was scheduled based on the timescales in which we re-inspect services rated good. This is currently 30 months.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

This announced inspection was carried out on 23 September 2016. This is the first time the service was inspected at this location. The last time the service was inspected was April 2013 when it was based at another location and was found to be compliant with the regulations inspected.

The South Reablement Service is a Domiciliary Care Agency that is operated by Manchester City Council - Adult Directorate and is registered to provide personal care to people who live in their own homes. The aim of the service is to maximise people’s independence by providing a period of time limited reablement support (usually for a period of 6 weeks) to help people be as independent as possible and remain living in the community. At the time of our inspection 50 people were using the service.

There was a registered manager for 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 who used the service were supported by reablement staff were who were reliable and friendly and who attended at regular times. People were provided with a range of equipment to help keep them safe from harm.

Appropriate recruitment procedures had been followed to minimise risks that reablement staff did not pose a potential risk to people who used the service. A range of assessments were completed to enable reablement staff to support people safely. Reablement staff had received training about how to recognise and report potential abuse to ensure people who used the service were protected from harm. People were provided with information about how to contact the service in emergencies and out of normal office hours.

A range of training was provided for reablement staff to ensure they were able to carry out their roles effectively and promote the quality of people’s lives. Reablement staff received regular supervision and appraisal of their skills to enable their performance to be monitored and help them develop their careers. Reablement staff communicated in a considerate and courteous way and ensured people’s consent was obtained before personal care was delivered to them. Reablement staff involved healthcare professionals in the community when this was required, to ensure people’s medical needs and wellbeing was appropriately promoted.

People were treated with kindness and sensitivity by reablement staff who involved them in making decisions about their support to enable their wishes and feelings to be promoted. People were supported by reablement staff to be as independent as possible who respected their confidentiality and maintained their personal dignity.

People were assessed to ensure the service was able to meet their needs in a way that they understood and had been agreed. Reablement staff demonstrated a positive understanding of working with people’s individual strengths and preferences to enable them to achieve their personal goals. People who used the service were able to raise concerns when this was required and they were confident the registered provider would investigate and resolve these, wherever this was possible.

Governance systems were in place to enable the quality of the service to be effectively monitored. Regular meetings took place to ensure reablement staff were aware of their professional roles and responsibilities and enabled the values of the registered provider’s organisation to be upheld. Management feedback to reablement staff was delivered in a way that was constructive and positive. People who used the service were consulted and encouraged to share their views about the service to enable it to develop and improve. Comments received from people who used the service were positive.