Aberlour Options - Ayrshire Care Home Service

Transcription

1 Aberlour Options - Ayrshire Care Home Service 49 Ardfin Road Prestwick KA9 2LE Telephone: Type of inspection: Unannounced Inspection completed on: 18 October 2016 Service provided by: Aberlour Child Care Trust. Service provider number: SP Care service number: CS

2 About the service The Care Inspectorate registered Aberlour Options - Ayrshire as a Care Home Service in The service is registered to care for a maximum of five young people with physical and learning disabilities on a short break respite basis of whom one young person may be included on a single long-term placement as required. The service is located in Prestwick in Ayrshire. The main service is a detached house with the other service a two-story semi-detached house nearby. The service is provided by Aberlour Child Care trust which aims to help those most in need. Aberlour Options Ayrshire aims to: 'Provide disabled children with enjoyable experiences away from their primary carers thereby contributing to their social and personal development and reducing isolation' What people told us Due to the needs of young people in the service during the inspection it was not always possible to speak with them. We spoke with one young person during the inspection and observed positive, caring and attentive staff interaction with young people. Young people we spoke with told us they were very happy in the service and felt safe and supported by staff. They further told us about their achievements in education and the social activities they were encouraged and supported to participate in. We spoke with three social workers during the course of the inspection. Social workers told us that staff provided very good levels of care to the young people. One social worker spoke of the 'great care that staff take to prepare the room for visits; to suit the young persons needs and preferences'. We were further told that 'parents really value the service' were 'highly appreciative of the service' and that 'There is not enough of it; we could do with more of it'. We spoke with parents of the young people and one parent told us that they were very confident that staff were looking after their child's health and well being. Parents were highly appreciative of the communication from staff and found the records of the visit informative and reassuring. Parents we spoke with also spoke highly of the staff's commitment to maintaining routines for young people; and of how this assured continuity of the young people's care. Two parents we spoke with stated that they considered the service to be 'excellent'. page 2 of 7

3 Self assessment The Care Inspectorate received a fully completed comprehensive self-assessment from the manager. This assessment arrived after the inspection however this was due to an IT system error and not due to an error by the service. The self assessment document identified what the manager thought the service did well and gave examples of improvements in meeting young people's needs and staff practice areas. The self-assessment clearly identified some areas that the manager believed could be improved and suggested how the service intended to do this. From this inspection we graded this service as: Quality of care and support Quality of environment Quality of staffing Quality of management and leadership 5 - Very Good not assessed not assessed 5 - Very Good What the service does well We found that the service was providing very good respite care for young people in the service. Young people's care plans contained detailed information relating to their health and well being needs, care routines, dietary preferences and favoured activities. The aims of the person centred care plans were linked to the wellbeing indicators - safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible, and included - of Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) - Scotland's national approach to improving outcomes and wellbeing for children and young people. Examples of targets being met were young people achieving a greater sense of safety and inclusion through road safety awareness whilst participating in activities in the community, improving health outcomes through nutrition provided by wider dietary experiences and nurturing and responsibility through participating in group activities. These outcomes contributed to quality life experiences for the young people. A committed staff team consulted with health specialists to increase their understanding of young people's particular needs. This knowledge was crucial in supporting young people during outdoor activities and in developing bedtime and self care routines, for example. Staff were also meticulous in compiling risk assessments that contained actions to minimise risks and ensure young people's health and safety. This level of staff understanding enabled young people to safely participate in a variety of stimulating activities. This in turn nurtured positive social interaction with peers whilst maintaining trusting relationships with staff. The service had developed a Transitions group for young people, and for those participating in this programme there was very good evidence of them developing skills for independent living, for example, through cookery sessions with staff and planning and role playing short trips on public transport. One young person who was living within the service on a residential basis had successfully accessed a college course and was making very good progress toward his identified goals toward greater independence. page 3 of 7

4 The manager and staff group had identified areas where they believed the service could improve through participation in a team development day. Areas that had been addressed, for example, were clarification of responsibilities and resource allocation. Outcomes from this meeting aimed at achieving greater consistency in the delivery of care. Areas for development were also identified. Staff members individual strengths had been noted and particular roles delegated to staff to promote responsibility and leadership values. Examples of this were staff members being given responsibility for moving and handling training whilst others attended national groups for support and guidance on particular health conditions. This work had recently been undertaken and we will review this further at the next inspection. In the 2016/17 inspecting year the Care Inspectorate is scoping child sexual exploitation (CSE) practice in children and young people's services. This is part of our contribution to 'Scotland's National Action Plan to tackle Child Sexual Exploitation' and focusses on frameworks of CSE practice, staff understanding and care planning outcomes. The service's child protection policy included a section relating to child sexual exploitation (CSE). The assistant manager had attended CSE awareness training and this information was being passed to the staff team. We have commented further on this matter in the section below 'What the service could do better'. What the service could do better We spoke with staff in relation to training, knowledge and assessment of CSE as stated above. Whilst staff responses evidenced knowledge of CSE risk and vulnerability factors in addition to their responsibilities as per the child protection procedures, Aberlour should develop a specific CSE assessment framework. We have made a recommendation in relation to this matter. Following the previous inspection, we made the following recommendation - The service should ensure that all staff receive an annual child protection training update. National Care Standards, care homes for children and young people, standard 7: Management and. During this inspection we looked at training records and spoke with staff in relation to this matter. The manager had resumed the annual refresher training for child protection and all staff had attended child protection training. This training was now being tracked by the assistant manager during the service audit process. During the previous inspection we identified that stronger links could be made with independent advocacy services. During the last inspection 'Who Cares? (Scotland)' confirmed that they were in the process of allocating a worker to the young person who was living within the service on a residential basis. During this inspection we found that independent advocacy had not progressed for all young people using the service. However, we noted that advocacy contact details were made available for parents and young people to access. The service should continue to develop links with independent advocacy services to provide independent support to young people and their families. Following the previous inspection we found that some aspects of the medication paperwork needed to be reviewed and changed. In particular we noted that young people should be registered with the community pharmacy where over the counter medications are required. The manager informed us of the discussion s with the local pharmacist and health professionals and we are satisfied that arrangements were agreed to address this need. We also found during the previous inspection that page 4 of 7

5 consent to administer over the counter medications should be reviewed. The manager and assistant manager had revised this process and we will further review this at the next inspection. Requirements Number of requirements: 0 Recommendations Number of recommendations: 1 1. Aberlour Child Care Trust should now introduce a risk assessment tool designed specifically to assess the risk of child sexual-exploitation. National Care Standards, care homes for children and young people, Standard 6.13: Feeling safe and secure. Complaints There have been no complaints upheld since the last inspection. Details of any older upheld complaints are published at Inspection and grading history Date Type Gradings 20 Nov 2015 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good 5 - Very good 5 - Very good Management and leadership 17 Dec 2014 Unannounced Care and support Management and leadership 13 Feb 2014 Unannounced Care and support Management and leadership page 5 of 7

6 Date Type Gradings 20 Sep 2013 Unannounced Care and support 3 - Adequate 3 - Adequate Management and leadership 3 - Adequate 16 Jan 2013 Unannounced Care and support Management and leadership 15 Aug 2012 Announced Care and support Management and leadership 7 Dec 2011 Unannounced Care and support Management and leadership 7 Jun 2011 Unannounced Care and support 3 - Adequate 3 - Adequate Management and leadership 2 Feb 2011 Announced Care and support Management and leadership page 6 of 7

7 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 7 of 7