KITE - Keep Independent Through Enablement

KITE – Keep Independent Through Enablement provides short term assessment and enablement services to people in their own homes to help them be as independent as possible. The service is for people who have been discharged from hospital or whose health has deteriorated.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of the inspection 39 people using the service were receiving personal care.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People received a safe service and suitable numbers of appropriately recruited staff were employed to meet their needs. This meant people were supported to live safely. The registered manager and staff assessed, monitored, and recorded any risks to people, as required. Accidents, incidents, and safeguarding concerns were reported, investigated and recorded appropriately. Staff were trained to prompt and support people to take their medicines, if required. Infection control procedures were followed.

The provider had a culture that was open, responsive, positive and the management structure was clearly set out. The provider’s vision and values were easy to understand, and staff understood and followed them and were aware of their responsibilities and accountability. Staff were prepared to raise concerns they may have with the provider and take responsibility for their own conduct. The quality of the service was regularly reviewed, and any required changes were made to improve the care and support people received. This was conducted in a way that best suited people. The provider had established effective professional working relationships that promoted the needs of people outside its remit. Registration requirements were met.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published 22 February 2018).

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to check whether the service was continuing to provide a good, rated service to people.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

The overall rating for the service remains good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for KITE - Keep Independent Through Enablement on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

At the last inspection, the service was rated Good.

At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

There was a registered manager at 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 using the service told us they felt safe in the presence of care workers. They praised them for their caring attitude and said they felt their wishes were respected and they were offered a choice. People were supported to regain their independence and each person had enablement plans which documented the goals that had been agreed with them. They said that care workers helped them to achieve their goals.

There was an emphasis on dignity in care at the service. The registered manager had been involved in running some workshops around dignity in care and was an active supporter of the campaign and had encouraged staff to become dignity champions. Care workers demonstrated passion and a real empathy for people when talking about how they ensured people were treated with dignity and respect.

Thorough assessments were completed when people had been referred and accepted into the service. These assessments were carried out by an enablement officer and an occupational therapist. Risk assessments were completed for people which included ways in which potential risk could be managed, any aids to support mobility or independence were identified and a care plan agreed with people.

Appropriate pre-employment checks were completed for new staff which helped to ensure they were suitable to work with people. New starters completed the Care Certificate as part of their induction and thereafter received annual mandatory training which helped to ensure their skills were up to date. Staff received regular supervision and yearly appraisals.

People were given information about how they could complain if they had concerns. Where complaints had been raised, these were recorded and responded to them in a timely manner.

Feedback was sought from people at regular intervals during the time they received a service. People were also able to feedback at the end of their support as part of the provider's quality assurance monitoring. Other monthly audits took place looking at a range of areas including complaints, training and quality of record keeping which helped to maintain good stands.

We received positive feedback from people using the service. The registered manager was approachable and was receptive to initiatives to try and improve the service.

The provider worked in partnership with a number of agencies which helped to ensure people received appropriate support.

Comments from people using or had used the service included "I'm happy - definitely", "they come in and do what they have to, I'm quite happy" and "very good, they helped a lot". One person told us "words cannot express how wonderful they have been, I would like to keep them". Each person we spoke to told us that they were treated with dignity and respect by care staff and said they would recommend the service to their friends and family.

Staff working for the service described the care and support being provided as "wonderful", "fantastic" and "really good". The majority of care staff had worked for this service for many years with each individual speaking very positively about the team they worked in and the support provided to them.

Individuals told us that they were treated with dignity and respect by care staff. Comments included 'they are lovely people', 'they've all been very nice to me' and 'respectful and polite'. Comments about the staff included 'we have a laugh and a joke together', 'all very nice', 'they do their job, I'm satisfied' and 'very good'.

All of the staff spoken to had worked for the service for a long time and spoke very positively about the support being provided.