Jigsaw (Cornerstone) Support Service

Transcription

1 Jigsaw (Cornerstone) Support Service Unit 3 RHU Marina Helensburgh G84 8LH Telephone: Type of inspection: Unannounced Inspection completed on: 25 August 2017 Service provided by: Cornerstone Community Care Service provider number: SP Care service number: CS

2 About the service The Care Inspectorate regulates care service in Scotland. Information about all care services can be found on our website at The service was previously registered with the Care Commission and transferred its registration to the Care Inspectorate on 1 April Jigsaw (Cornerstone) is registered with the Care Inspectorate as a Support Service - Care at Home. The service states that its aims include "To support individuals with additional support needs". Jigsaw works with children and young people with a diverse range of physical and learning difficulties to offer them "a chance to socialise with peers and work on reaching goals through activity with meaningful outcomes". Young people can be supported individually by staff and/or attend group activity sessions at Youth Club and/or Saturday Club. The service also provides additional playscheme activities during the summer holidays. The service is based in Rhu, Helensburgh which offers indoor activities within a small but well resourced area. What people told us We invited a young inspection volunteer to join this inspection process. They met with two young people who were able to verbally communicate their views. Both young people told us that they had been attending the service for some time and that they get the opportunity to play and meet with friends. Both commented that they felt safe in the service and that they were happy to attend. Both could identify staff they liked and who they would approach if they had any concern. Young people went on to say that some of the toys could be better as some break. Additionally neither young person felt that they were asked to suggest new purchases of toys, one was unclear about whether they had a care plan and one stated that they were not sure who was the manager of the service. Additional observation of a further two young people, confirmed our view of a nurturing service which offered the chance for young people to be themselves and relax in the company of known adults who were aware of how to support their needs. Our efforts to gather feedback from families proved difficult. Our young inspection volunteer ed several parents to request their views about the service. However, we received only one reply. The parent commented very positively about communication with the service and how her daughter's plan was regularly reviewed. They stated that they were consulted regarding activities for their daughter and that the service was an invaluable addition to the life of their child and their family. Self assessment The provider was not required to submit a self assessment document for this inspecting year. page 2 of 6

3 From this inspection we graded this service as: Quality of care and support Quality of staffing Quality of management and leadership 5 - Very Good not assessed 5 - Very Good What the service does well During this inspection, we considered the quality themes relating to Care and Support and Management and Leadership. We included a young inspection volunteer in this inspection and further to our observations, discussions with young people, feedback from families and review of written evidence, we concluded that the service was performing to a very good standard for both quality themes. The timing of this inspection, followed the recent completion of the summer play scheme programme. We found that through the significant planning and preparations for this activity based programme, many young people and their families benefited from a wide range of in-house and community based activity. We noted that visits to various local attractions coupled with arts and crafts activity had offered young people the opportunity to learn and develop their social and communication skills, allowing them to express their interests in a meaningful and stimulating manner. To further enhance these skills for young people, the service had continued to develop the Youth Club, providing opportunities to a wider group of young people to experience time with peers and participate in activities. An area for improvement identified at the last inspection related to the recruitment and retention of staff. Historically, the service had experienced some difficulty in securing appropriate appointments, however a recent recruitment process proved successful, with careful 'matching' of new employees to the needs of young people. This meant that young people could feel supported by adults who shared similar interests and who would be supported to understand how to meet their needs. Where young people were supported individually, we found that this encouraged them to participate in activities which promoted positive physical and mental wellbeing. For some this involved walking their dogs, dancing or playing at the local park. We also found that by encouraging young people to travel safely in their local community, they were supported to develop skills such as, exchanging money and to familiarise themselves with their surroundings. To support young people's involvement in activity, we found that risk assessment was generally very good, with safe and supportive behaviour management plans in place for those young people who required additional support. We found at the last inspection, that there was a need to ensure that young people's support was regularly reviewed. During this inspection we noted a significant improvement in this practice. We reviewed ten plans for young people and found that all had been the subject of review over recent months. This process allowed young people, where possible, and their families to discuss how well the service was meeting their needs. In all of the plans sampled during inspection, people using the service had commented positively about the support they received. We also received feedback from one parent, who told us that they were happy with the help they received for their child and their family. page 3 of 6

4 As a means of identifying improvements the manager had created a leadership questionnaire for staff to assist her understanding of how they viewed the management of the service. We found that overall this produced mainly positive results, with all staff commenting that positive energy and commitment to building relationships, by being accepting of new ideas, was a key strength of the manager. This view was confirmed by parents who told us that the manager included them in decisions and kept them informed and updated about service developments for their child. What the service could do better We sampled plans for young people and noted that a new format had been created by the provider. Whilst we recognised the intention to promote more outcome focused recording of young people's progress, we did not consider the new format to be child friendly. We discussed this with the manager at inspection feedback and asked that they relay our findings to the provider. Where we did see good examples of plans, these had been written by young people or had shown involvement at some level. We would encourage the provider to consider the specific nature of the service and to explore how children's plans can be more accessible and simplified to allow them to contribute. We shared evidence of good practice with the manager in terms of reducing the amount of information held about each young person. Our suggestion included the design of an 'at a glance' record of young people's needs, to support staff to be aware of the key elements of young people's support. With less familiar staff joining the service, we felt that this may be of assistance while getting to know young people in their care. For a few young people there was a need to update risk assessment documents. We reiterated the importance of staff being fully aware of risk management practices aimed at protecting and supporting young people. The manager was aware of assessments which were out of date and had a plan in place to remedy this matter. Where feedback from families had highlighted their wish for their child to be involved in more age appropriate experiences, we advised the service to consider how this may be achieved. We will review progress at the next inspection to determine whether those young people continue to make progress. While reviewing the theme relating to management and leadership, we found that as with many organisations there was a continuous focus on improvement. We fully support efforts to improve outcomes for people using the service but advised of the need to consider the pace of change within such a small and flexibly staffed service. We felt that external management support was key to providing guidance and direction, while consulting with the manager about realistic timescales for implementation of any changes. Where leadership questionnaires produced responses which provided the manager with suggestions for improvement, these should be considered as part of the service development plan. This will assure those working in the service of the commitment to address their views. Requirements Number of requirements: 0 Recommendations Number of recommendations: 0 page 4 of 6

5 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 5 Dec 2016 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good 5 - Very good Management and leadership 23 Sep 2015 Unannounced Care and support 4 - Good 4 - Good Management and leadership 4 - Good 17 Oct 2014 Unannounced Care and support 4 - Good 5 - Very good Management and leadership 4 - Good 18 Nov 2013 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good 5 - Very good Management and leadership 5 - Very good page 5 of 6

6 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 6 of 6