Aberdeenshire South Floating Support Service Support Service Day Centre Port Road Inverurie AB51 3SP

Inspected by: Keith Nunn (Care Commission Officer)

Type of inspection: Announced

Inspection completed on: 23 October 2007

1/8 Service Number Service name

CS2004086313 South Floating Support Service

Service address

Inverurie Day Centre Port Road Inverurie AB51 3SP

dummy Provider Number Provider Name

SP2003000029 Aberdeenshire Council

dummy Inspected By Inspection Type

Keith Nunn Announced Care Commission Officer dummy Inspection Completed Period since last inspection

23 October 2007 7 months

dummy Local Office Address

Johnstone House Rose Street Aberdeenshire AB10 1UD

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2/8 Introduction Aberdeenshire South Floating Support Service is the title used to refer to a collection of ten day services for older people provided by Aberdeenshire Council in the South and Central areas of Aberdeenshire. Each day care service is provided in a different location for a range of numbers of people and on different days of the week depending on the needs of the area and the facilities available.

The day services are run by one or two Day Care Organisers (DCO) depending on the size of the service and all rely on support from volunteers. The volunteers are critical to the delivery of every service and perform a range of tasks and roles from providing transport to making tea and coffee to leading activities and outings. Each service also has a “Friends of…” committee that supports the running of the service by fundraising to ensure there are adequate resources and to provide special trips and outings.

The overall service was registered with the Care Commission on 1 April 2002 and one if it’s main aims is: “to provide caring, stimulating and socially inclusive services which will enable people to remain involved and live within their communities”.

Basis of Report

This report was written following announced inspections by one Care Commission Officer to five of the day services during the period 23 October to 13 November 2007. The services visited during this inspection process were in Alford, , , and Inverurie. Any management issues were then discussed with the overall named service manager who was also based at Inverurie Resource centre.

Before the visit a Regulation Support Assessment (RSA) was carried out to determine the intensity of inspection necessary on this occasion. The RSA is an assessment undertaken by the Care Commission officer (CCO) which considers: complaints activity, changes in the provision of the service, nature of notifications made to the Care Commission by the service (such as absence of manager) and action taken upon requirements. The CCO will also have considered how the service responded to situations and issues as part of the RSA.

This assessment resulted in the service receiving a low RSA score and so a low intensity inspection was required as a result. The inspection was then based upon the relevant inspection focus areas and followed up on any recommendations and requirements from previous inspections, complaints or other regulatory activity.

One Care Commission Officer participated in the inspection and gathered evidence from a number of sources including the following:

A review of relevant policies, procedures, records and other documentation, including:

· service user’s personal plans · restraint policy · interagency policy and procedure for the protection of adults · child protection guidance · staff training records · incident and accident records

Discussion with staff including:

3/8 · the Manager · 7 Day Centre Organisers · Approximately 10 Volunteers

Individual and small group discussions with service users plus observation of staff interacting with service users.

It should be noted that the Fire () Act 2005 introduced new regulatory arrangements in respect of fire safety, on 1 October 2006. In terms of these arrangements, responsibility for enforcing the statutory provisions in relation to fire safety now lies with the Fire and Rescue service for the area in which a care service is located. Accordingly the Care Commission will no longer report on matters of fire safety as part of its regulatory function, but where significant fire safety issues become apparent, will alert the relevant Fire and Rescue service to their existence in order that it may act as it considers appropriate. Further advice is available on “www.infoscotland.com/firelaw”.

The Care Commission Officers took all of the above into account and reported on the service’s performance with reference to the inspection focus areas of Protecting People (incorporating child protection, adult protection and restraint) and staff training.

Action taken on requirements in last Inspection Report No requirements were made as a result of the previous inspection.

Comments on Self-Evaluation The service had submitted a self evaluation as requested by the Care Commission. This reflected a fair assessment of the service’s strengths and areas for development in relation to the National Care Standards associated with the inspection focus areas.

View of Service Users The Care Commission Officer spent time speaking with service users individually and in small group settings as was appropriate. Overwhelmingly, all the service users spoken with were very satisfied with the service provided and especially with the support provided by the staff and volunteers.

The only issue raised was from one of the services and related to the proposed introduction of a revised meals service. Significantly, for a number of service users, this new menu was to result in the reduced availability of soup from every session to just once a month. There were also concerns expressed about the second choice of main course that was not a popular one with the people using such a day service. The manager advised that the new menus had been piloted at Inverurie Day Centre before being finalised and rolled out to the other facilities. However, the users of the other services affected had not been involved or consulted.

Service users should be meaningfully involved in any decisions that affect their quality of experience using the support service. Some of the day services evidenced good examples of where this had happened in respect to local decisions. However, on this issue, there appeared to have been little consultation or involvement with the service users beyond the isolated pilot. (See Recommendation 1)

4/8 View of Carers Two relatives were spoken to during the course of the inspection process and both expressed satisfaction with the service provided. Indeed, both were quite involved in the services, with one being a volunteer.

5/8 Regulations / Principles

Regulation :

Strengths

Areas for Development

National Care Standards

National Care Standard Number 2: Support Services - Management and Staffing Arrangements

Strengths

Children occasionally visited the services for special occasions such as Christmas performances and one of the day services was based in the community room of a school. All services had access to child protection guidelines and staff were aware of their responsibilities should they ever have any concerns.

Each service had a folder which contained copies of the recent Mental Welfare Commission’s (MWC) best practice guidance including “Rights, Risks and Limits to Freedom”. The services also had access to the organisation’s policy with regard to restraint.

All staff had accessed training in adult abuse issues and the use of associated policy and procedure and most services had a copy of the inter-agency adult protection guidelines.

The service provider had a dedicated training team that organised and delivered training to staff working in different services. This team had a comprehensive training strategy and programme that ensured staff had access to a range of suitable courses.

The training needs of staff had been identified through supervision and appraisal and records confirmed that essential training and other courses had been accessed. Staff had also been supported to undertake qualifications recognised as essential by the SSSC.

Areas for Development

The service had a policy on restraint that focused on physical intervention. This policy should be reviewed and developed to ensure that it reflects the wider issues of restraint as highlighted in the MWC best practice guidance. (See Recommendation 2)

Discussion with staff and examination of service user personal plans evidenced a good overall understanding of and approach to risk assessment. However, some of the support plans and risk assessment had not been completed or reviewed as expected. The review frequency and procedure was discussed with the manager, and following on from the recommendations made in the previous inspection, it is suggested that the assessment and support planning processes and documentation be reviewed to ensure that they accurately

6/8 reflect the service user’s needs and views and are kept up to date. (See Recommendation 3)

One service did not appear to have a copy of the most current inter-agency guidelines with regard to adult protection. (See Recommendation 4)

All the DCOs had accessed training that would be considered essential. However, some had not been on courses recently, in line with Aberdeenshire Council policy, to ensure that their knowledge and practice was up to date. The service should therefore implement a system to ensure that this happens. (See Recommendation 5)

The role and importance of the volunteers was discussed. It should be recognised that without the support and dedication of the volunteers in each location, the day care services would not be able to operate. Given their importance, it was agreed that development and training opportunities for these volunteers should be explored in collaboration with them. (See Recommendation 6) This is especially relevant where the volunteers were escorting people to the day service although the manager advised that new transport procedures may change the existing arrangements in the near future.

7/8 Enforcement There has been no enforcement action against this service since the last inspection.

Other Information No other information was relevant to this inspection.

Requirements No requirements were made as a result of this inspection.

Recommendations 1. Service users should have the opportunity to be involved in the running of the service and be supported to make choices about the activities and services offered. Specifically, the menu that is offered should reflect the service user’s preferences. National Care Standards Support Service, Standard 8.10: Making Choices and Standard 15.2: Eating Well.

2. The restraint policy should be further developed to reflect best practice guidance. National Care Standards Support Service, Standard 2: Management and staffing arrangements.

3. The service should review and develop its assessment and support planning policy, procedures and documentation. National Care Standards Support Service, Standard 2: Management and staffing arrangements.

4. The service provider will ensure that all services have a copy of the interagency policy and procedure for the protection of adults. National Care Standards Support Service, Standard 2: Management and staffing arrangements.

5. The service provider should develop and implement a system to ensure that staff’s core training needs are met in line with the organisations policy. National Care Standards Support Service, Standard 2: Management and staffing arrangements.

6. The service should explore the development and training needs of volunteers and ensure that these are met in a way that is accessible and appropriate to their role. National Care Standards Support Service, Standard 2: Management and staffing arrangements.

Keith Nunn Care Commission Officer

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