Dementia Support Service Support Service

Transcription

1 Dementia Support Service Support Service Dementia Support Service 97 Glasgow Street Ardrossan KA22 8ER Telephone: Type of inspection: Unannounced Inspection completed on: 24 October 2017 Service provided by: North Ayrshire Council Service provider number: SP Care service number: CS

2 About the service The Dementia Support Service is operated by North Ayrshire Council from an office base in Glasgow Street, Ardrossan. The service provides time limited support to people with dementia and their carers based on an assessment of need. This can include; the provision of information, introducing to other local services and community resources, providing a few hours of respite each week for carers, and working with service users to retain skills and interests. The Dementia Support Service was registered with the Care Commission and transferred its registration to the Care Inspectorate in April What people told us We asked the service to distribute Care Standards Questionnaires to carers of service users. We received 11 completed questionnaires. All of the questionnaires were completed, showing high levels of satisfaction with all elements of the service. Of the 11 completed, eight 'Strongly Agreed' with the statement 'Overall I am happy with the quality of support his service gives me' and two 'Agreed'. One questionnaire was completed by a care manager on behalf of the service user. This also reflected a high level of satisfaction with the quality of service provided. Other comments included; 'I am extremely happy with the service my mother receives. Her worker is very respectful and kind towards her'. '(service user name) was happy to go out with his carer right from the start. (worker) has a lovely bubbly personality which makes him feel at ease'. 'We as a family are very happy with the care and attention given to our mother'. (This family told us how the support worker won heir mother's confidence quickly and persuaded her to go out, much to the family's delight) '(staff name) has been most helpful to us by allowing me time for myself and she has been an excellent companion for my wife. She is first class in her work'. 'My wife has been supported for some months by a lady from the service. She has been a delightful lady with a happy heart. Sadly we have reached the end of her time to support my wife so the couple of hours will be missed by my wife and I'. We visited six service users at home, all of whom had carers present. Carers continued to tell us how valuable the service was to them and how it had made a positive difference to their loved ones life. We contacted six carers by telephone. They also made very positive comments about the service provided. Two told us they were very disappointed that the service was time limited but hoped to find alternatives resources to fill the 'gap the service would leave'. page 2 of 8

3 Self assessment The service had not been asked to complete a self-assessment in advance of the inspection. We discussed with the managers the need for a service development/improvement plan and have made a recommendation regarding this. From this inspection we graded this service as: Quality of care and support Quality of staffing Quality of management and leadership 5 - Very Good not assessed 3 - Adequate What the service does well All service users had support plans in place. Service users and their carers were involved in making decisions about how the support should be provided. The service was provided on a time limited basis. Support workers helped service users to access local services and resources to meet their need for socialisation and stimulation. We saw very good examples of person centred support where staff had taken the time to find out about service users past interests or hobbies and every effort was made to reintroduce these into people's lives. We also saw that service users were encouraged to try 'new things' such as attending local day care services or other local community resources. One carer told us. 'It is so good he is being supported to continue to follow his interests' and another said 'he hasn't danced for years, it brilliant to hear he is doing it again. Staff were skilful in their approach to service users and carers, often using good negotiation skills to encourage individuals' participation with the service. Staff reassessed on an ongoing basis how best to achieve the goals identified at commencement of the service. An important part of the service was the short periods of respite provided to carers. Carers continued to tell us how crucial this was and how it had supported them to continue in their caring role. 'I can go out for my lunch with complete confidence and know he is in safe hands, it means so much to me'. The service had taken steps to build closer working relationships with the local community mental health nursing team. It is hoped that these links will continue to be developed. Staff received training relevant to the needs of service users. Since the last inspection, staff meetings had been taking place at regular intervals. We could see from the minutes of these meetings that staff were able to express their views on where improvements to the service could be made. Staff supervision had also been re-established, offering staff a further opportunity to make suggestions for improvements. The service continued to contact carers by telephone periodically during the support period to seek their views on the quality of the service they received. The information was recorded and evaluated as part of the service quality assurance processes. page 3 of 8

4 What the service could do better We found that the support plans currently used by the service did not provide sufficient detail of individuals' specific needs, the aims of the service and goals to be achieved. This was raised at the last inspection. Managers had hoped to resolve this issue via the provider's electronic assessment and care planning process. This had taken longer than originally hoped. However, interim support planning arrangements should have been put in place. (recommendation 1) We noted that service users and carers did not have the same opportunities to express their views on the quality of the service or be involved in the development of the service to the levels we had previously seen. This included involvement in the recruitment process. These participation and consultation methods should include managers having more direct contact with service users and carers. (recommendation 2) We made a recommendation at the last inspection for a service training and development plan to be established. Although individual staff had a training and development plan as part of the provider's Professional and Personal Development Plans (PPDs), these were not well maintained and had not been used to inform a service level training and development plan. (recommendation 3) The training plan should show how staff will increase their learning and skills in supporting people with dementia. This should include being trained to Enhanced Level, meeting the training outcomes outlined in the Promoting Excellence Framework developed by Scottish Social Services Council and NHS Scotland as part of the Scottish Government's Dementia Strategy. (recommendation 4) The provider should use quality assurance processes, including the findings of inspection reports to establish a service development/improvement plan which should include timescales for improvements to be made. (recommendation 5) A range of quality assurance audits should be developed to identify deficits in the service and where improvements are required. This should include the service development/improvement plan, support plan audits and training audits. (recommendation 6) There was a need for the provider to review the current management arrangements in the service to ensure that the required leadership was available to develop the service, provide direction to staff and ensure that the systems and processes required for the day-to-day operation of the service were in place. (recommendation 7) Requirements Number of requirements: 0 page 4 of 8

5 Recommendations Number of recommendations: 7 1. The provider must ensure that the support plan clearly details individuals' specific needs, the aims of the service and goals to be achieved. There should be a record of progress made to meet these goals and have a 'closing summary' showing the goals met and the supports in place at the end of the service. National Care Standards. Support Services Care at Home. Standard 3: Your personal plan. 2. The provider should improve the opportunities service users and carers have, to express their views on the quality of the service or be involved in the development of the service. National Care Standards for Support Services - Care at Home - Standard 11: Expressing your views. 3. The provider should have a training plan based on the aims and objectives of the service, the needs of service users and the identified training needs of staff. 4. Staff should increase their learning and skills in supporting people with dementia. This should include being trained to Enhanced level with the training outcomes outlined in the Promoting Excellence Framework developed by Scottish Social Services Council and NHS Scotland as part of the Scottish Government's Dementia Strategy. 5. The provider should use quality assurance processes, including the findings of inspection reports to establish a service development/improvement plan which should include timescales for improvements to be made. 6. A range of quality assurance audits should be developed to identify deficits in the service and where improvements are required. This should include the service development/improvement plan, support plan audits and training audits. 7. The provider should review the current management arrangements in the service to ensure that the required leadership was available to develop the service, provide direction to staff and ensure that the systems and processes required for the day-to-day operation of the service were in place. page 5 of 8

6 Complaints There have been no complaints upheld since the last inspection. Details of any older upheld complaints are published at page 6 of 8

7 Inspection and grading history Date Type Gradings 28 Jul 2016 Announced (short notice) Care and support 4 - Good Environment Not assessed Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership Not assessed 27 May 2015 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment Not assessed Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership 4 - Good 29 May 2014 Announced (short notice) Care and support 5 - Very good Environment Not assessed Staffing 5 - Very good Management and leadership 5 - Very good 31 May 2013 Unannounced Care and support 4 - Good Environment Not assessed Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership 4 - Good page 7 of 8

8 To find out more This inspection report is published by the Care Inspectorate. You can download this report and others from our website. Care services in Scotland cannot operate unless they are registered with the Care Inspectorate. We inspect, award grades and help services to improve. We also investigate complaints about care services and can take action when things aren't good enough. Please get in touch with us if you would like more information or have any concerns about a care service. You can also read more about our work online at Contact us Care Inspectorate Compass House 11 Riverside Drive Dundee DD1 4NY enquiries@careinspectorate.com Find us on Facebook Other languages and formats This report is available in other languages and formats on request. Tha am foillseachadh seo ri fhaighinn ann an cruthannan is cànain eile ma nithear iarrtas. page 8 of 8