Community Short Breaks, a City of York Council domiciliary short-breaks service for children and young people with disabilities, received a Good rating across all five key questions at its first CQC inspection in July 2022. The service demonstrated strong person-centred care, meaningful staff-child relationships and effective multi-agency working, with a recommendation to improve staffing contingency plans to reduce the impact of absences on service users and families.
Concerns (4)
moderateStaffing levels: “some sessions had been cancelled if a person's care worker was not available; for example, due to annual leave or sickness absences.”
moderateStaffing levels: “The activities and level of support provided to some people was limited as there was not always a second care worker available when needed.”
minorRecord keeping: “We spoke with the registered manager about recording more information about how short break sessions were planned and organised to help if a new care worker needed to take over.”
minorIncident learning: “We spoke with the registered manager about developing their approach to monitoring the emergence of behaviour that challenges, to help understand the function of this behaviour.”
Strengths
· People were matched with a named care worker providing individualised, consistent support tailored to their needs.
· Care workers developed meaningful relationships with children; relatives described them as 'a complete godsend' and noted children 'get excited when the carers arrive'.
· Detailed care plans and risk assessments provided comprehensive guidance for safe, person-centred support.
· Strong multi-agency working with healthcare professionals, with communication described as 'excellent'.
· Leadership was described as approachable and supportive by both staff and external professionals.
Quality-Statement breakdown (21)
safe: Staffing and recruitmentGood
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and managementGood
safe: Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
effective: Assessing people's needs and choices; delivering care in line with standards, guidance and the lawGood
effective: Staff support: induction, training, skills and experienceGood
effective: Supporting people to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced dietGood
effective: Staff working with other agencies to provide consistent, effective, timely careGood
effective: Ensuring consent to care and treatment in line with law and guidanceGood
caring: Ensuring people are well treated and supported; respecting equality and diversityGood
caring: Supporting people to express their views and be involved in making decisions about their careGood
caring: Respecting and promoting people's privacy, dignity and independenceGood
responsive: Planning personalised care to ensure people have choice and control and to meet their needs and preferencesGood
responsive: Meeting people's communication needsGood
responsive: Supporting people to develop and maintain relationships and take part in activitiesGood
responsive: Improving care quality in response to complaints or concernsGood
well-led: Promoting a positive culture that is person-centred, open, inclusive and empoweringGood
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles, understanding quality performance, risks and regulatory requirementsGood
well-led: Working in partnership with others; engaging and involving people using the serviceGood