Oxfordshire Children - Young People & Families was rated Good across all five key questions at its August 2016 announced inspection, demonstrating safe, personalised care for 138 children with disabilities. One minor medication recording gap was identified and rectified immediately during the inspection visit.
Concerns (2)
minor
Medication management
: “one child's medicine was not recorded on an appropriate medicine administration record (MAR)...This could put the child at risk of not receiving their medicine as prescribed.”
minorGovernance: “the audit systems had not identified our concerns relating medicine records.”
Strengths
· Sufficient staffing levels consistently maintained with safe recruitment procedures including DBS checks
· Staff well trained including specialist training from physiotherapists, occupational therapists and nurses
· Regular supervision, appraisals and workplace monitoring of staff in place
· Personalised, detailed care plans including communication passports for non-verbal children
· Children and relatives actively involved in care planning and review meetings
Oxfordshire Children – Young People & Families provides a safe, effective and well-led homecare service to children and young people with disabilities and complex health needs, rated Outstanding for Caring due to staff consistently going above and beyond and forming exceptional relationships with families. The one notable weakness was that children did not always receive their full allocated hours due to ongoing recruitment challenges, though the registered manager was actively addressing this.
Concerns (1)
moderateStaffing levels: “Children and young people did not always receive support for the full amount of agreed hours... Parents confirmed they rarely received all the hours of support they had hoped to receive.”
Strengths
· Staff developed exceptional caring relationships with children and young people; parents described staff as 'part of the family' and praised them for going above and beyond.
· Comprehensive, person-centred support plans co-produced with children, young people and families, including accessible formats and individual communication methods such as Makaton.
· Strong safeguarding culture with staff knowledgeable about local safeguarding children procedures and trained across multiple safeguarding thresholds.
· Consistent staff allocation ensured continuity of care; children and young people looked forward to seeing their regular support workers.
· Effective quality assurance systems including audits, electronic visit monitoring, and patch manager observations of staff in the field.
Quality-Statement breakdown (23)
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and managementGood
safe: Staffing and recruitmentGood
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
safe: Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
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: Supporting people to live healthier lives, access healthcare services and supportGood
effective: Ensuring consent to care and treatment in line with law and guidanceGood
caring: Ensuring people are well treated and supported; equality and diversityOutstanding
caring: Supporting people to express their views and be involved in making decisions about their careOutstanding
caring: Respecting and promoting people's privacy, dignity and independenceOutstanding
responsive: Planning personalised care to meet people's needs, preferences, interests and give them choice and controlGood
responsive: Improving care quality in response to complaints or concernsGood
responsive: End of life care and supportGood
well-led: Planning and promoting person-centred, high-quality care and support; duty of candourGood
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles, and understanding quality performance, risks and regulatory requirementsGood
well-led: Engaging and involving people using the service, the public and staffGood
well-led: Continuous learning and improving careGood