Archived: Cooper Noble Care Ltd

Updated 18 February 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 18 & 19 January 2016 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service for adults who are often out during the day; we needed to be sure that someone would be in.

The inspection was conducted by a social care inspector.

The provider had not been requested to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and any improvements they plan to make.

We checked the information that we held about the service and the service provider. This included statutory notifications sent to us by the registered manager about incidents and events that had occurred at the service. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send to us by law. We used all of this information to plan how the inspection should be conducted.

We spoke with people using the services, their friends, staff and the registered manager. We also spent time looking at records, including four care records, six staff files, three medication administration record (MAR) sheets, staff training plans, complaints and other records relating to the management of the service. We contacted social care professionals who have involvement with the service to ask for their views.

During our inspection we spoke with six people using the services. We also spoke with the friend of one person using the service. We spoke with senior managers, the registered manager and four other staff.

Updated 18 February 2016

We carried out an unannounced inspection of Cooper-Noble Care on the 18 and 19 January 2016.

Cooper-Noble Care provides staff for a total of 42 people in six supported living schemes. Each scheme supports people with enduring mental health conditions to maintain and improve their health and independence.

A registered manager was in post.

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.

All of the people that we spoke with told us that they felt safe with the services provided. The provider was not commissioned to provide 24 hour support for each location and made use of a range of security systems to promote safety when staff were not on the premises. This was backed-up by a 24 hour on-call services. Each of the people that we spoke with understood how to use this service if they needed to.

People were protected from the risk of abuse or discrimination because staff knew each person well and were trained in appropriate topics. Staff knew how to recognised signs of abuse and how to report them.

Sufficient staff were deployed to meet people's needs. Staff were suitably skilled and experienced to meet the needs of the people using the service. Each staff member had two references and a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check on their file.

Staff were equipped with the skills and knowledge to meet people's needs through an extensive programme of induction and training.

We were told that staff were trained in a range of social care topics by their previous employer, but a record of this training was not available during the inspection.

Staff communicated effectively with each other through the completion of daily records, telephone calls and a hand-over at the end of each shift. Additional opportunities to communicate were provided by regular supervision and a commitment to annual appraisal. Staff demonstrated that they understood the key principles of the MCA and delivered care and support in accordance with the act.

People were supported to maintain their mental and physical health through regular contact with healthcare professionals.

We were able to observe the delivery of care in a number of locations and saw that staff treated people with kindness, compassion and respect. Staff spoke with people in a reassuring manner and took time to confirm their understanding. The staff that we spoke with clearly knew the people that they supported and their individual needs.

People were actively involved in care planning and making decisions and this was evidenced in their care records. We also observed conversations about activities and care between people using the service and staff. It was clear that people were listened to and their views respected in the decision-making process.

People were encouraged to raise concerns or complaints directly with staff or by following the complaints procedure.

The registered manager and senior staff were clearly aware of the day to day culture and issues within the service. We saw that they knew the people using the service and their staff well. The registered manager understood their responsibilities in relation to their registration.

The staff that we spoke with were motivated to provide high quality care and understood what was expected of them. They spoke with enthusiasm about the people that they supported and their job roles.