Affinity Trust Domiciliary Care Agency Cambridgeshire was rated Good overall at its October 2018 inspection, with an Outstanding rating for Responsive reflecting exceptional person-centred practice and proactive support for people to achieve meaningful life goals. No significant failings were identified across any of the five key questions.
Strengths
· Staff used creative and person-centred approaches to help people achieve life goals, including holidays, skydiving experiences, and music production.
· Robust medicines management with trained and competent staff and clear PRN guidance in place.
· Strong incident and accident management with lessons learned shared across the organisation.
· Excellent communication support including easy-read formats, Makaton, and communication passports developed with speech and language therapists.
· Staff consistently supported people to maintain community links, develop relationships and increase social inclusion.
Affinity Trust Domiciliary Care Agency Cambridgeshire received a Good rating across all five key questions at its May 2016 inspection, demonstrating safe, person-centred care for 46 people with learning disabilities. Minor areas for improvement included inconsistent staff engagement in one home and outstanding implementation of mood assessment tools, both of which management had identified and begun to address.
Concerns (3)
moderateMedication management: “The provider told us in their PIR that there had been a number of errors in the management of people's medicines between 2014 and up to August 2015.”
minorPerson-centred care: “We saw some of the people were supported by one-to-one staff although there was limited, social interaction by them with the person they were looking after.”
minorCare planning: “We found that the assessment, monitoring and reviewing of people's moods was yet to be implemented in one of the people's homes we visited.”
Strengths
· Sufficient staffing levels with consistent agency staff providing continuity of care since December 2015
· Staff trained and knowledgeable in safeguarding, MCA and DoLS with appropriate best interest decision-making processes in place
· Medicine errors from 2014–2015 addressed through retraining and competency reassessment with no harm to people
· People supported to access community activities, holidays, and work-related activities aligned to individual goals
· Strong registered manager with 30+ years' experience; measurable improvements in leadership, communication and staff morale