“The caring on the ground is fantastic”

Affinity Trust’s service in the south of England has been rated ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

CQC, the independent regulator of social care in England, visited the service between 9 and 11 October 2017.  At the time of the inspection, the service was supporting 120 people in 22 locations in Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Portsmouth and Surrey.

To gather feedback about the service, the inspectors sent surveys to people we support, their relatives, staff and professionals. They also spoke to or received written feedback from social workers, commissioners, staff, relatives and others.

They reviewed support plans, recruitment and supervision records, staffing rosters and other records.

“Everyone works as a team” – staff member, quoted by CQC

The inspectors’ findings included:

• People were relaxed in the company of staff and familiar with them. Staff used humour appropriately when interacting with people and involved them in conversations.

• People each had a pen picture to document their personal history and life experiences. There was also a record of the most important things to the person.

• People’s records documented how they liked to spend their time, at home and in the community. For example, one person really enjoyed the garden.

• People each had their own weekly activity schedule based on their interests and were supported to attend a range of activities, such as music groups, pottery groups, the cinema and spas.

Staff told CQC they received good training, including training tailored to the needs of the people they were supporting, such as diabetes awareness, dementia and challenging behaviour.  As part of their induction, staff completed training in how to promote people’s dignity.  One staff member said: “They’re really good here – we have lots of training”.

CQC found that the service was well-led; that it promoted a positive and open culture; and that there were processes in place to monitor quality and drive service improvement.

Read the full report on the Care Quality Commission’s website

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 “The caring on the ground is fantastic” – relative of a person we support, quoted by CQC