Diamond Childcare Agency Child Care Agency Unit 3a Whitecrook Business Centre 78 Whitecrooks Street Clydebank G81 1QF Telephone:

Transcription

1 Diamond Childcare Agency Child Care Agency Unit 3a Whitecrook Business Centre 78 Whitecrooks Street Clydebank G81 1QF Telephone: Inspected by: Donna Laing Type of inspection: Unannounced Inspection completed on: 30 August 2011

2 Contents Page No Summary 3 1 About the service we inspected 4 2 How we inspected this service 5 3 The inspection 8 4 Other information 15 5 Summary of grades 16 6 Inspection and grading history 16 Service provided by: Diamond Childcare Services Ltd Service provider number: SP Care service number: CS Contact details for the inspector who inspected this service: Donna Laing Telephone enquiries@scswis.com Diamond Childcare Agency, page 2 of 17

3 Summary This report and grades represent our assessment of the quality of the areas of performance which were examined during this inspection. Grades for this care service may change after this inspection following other regulatory activity. For example, if we have to take enforcement action to make the service improve, or if we investigate and agree with a complaint someone makes about the service. We gave the service these grades Quality of Care and Support 4 Good Quality of Staffing N/A Quality of Management and Leadership 5 Very Good What the service does well Diamond Child Care Services offers a very valuable service to the community. Their flexible responsive service offers families support. The service work in conjunction with the local authority to offer respite care for children. What the service could do better The service should continue to hold staff meetings and record and give out the minutes of the meetings. The service should change their paperwork to maker sure people who use their service are sure what areas of it are regulated by SCSWIS. What the service has done since the last inspection Since the last inspection the service has updated its child protection policy and has held staff meetings informing staff about changes in the service. Conclusion The service has worked hard to put in places the recommendations from their last inspection report. They are very keen to offer a good service to families and talk with families regularly to make sure they are achieving this. Who did this inspection Donna Laing Lay assessor: N/A Diamond Childcare Agency, page 3 of 17

4 1 About the service we inspected Diamond Child Care Agency is based in the Clyde bank area of West Dunbartonshire. The service provides staff to look after children in their own home. The service operates 24 hours per day, 7 days per week depending on the needs of service users. The service aims are "This service provides and experienced member of staff to care for you and your child's every need. This allows parents who work shifts, or have unsociable hours to have the freedom to work knowing that their child is being well cared for. Our sitter service is a flexible service to parents on a regular basis or for emergencies". The provider of this service, Diamond Childcare Services Ltd, has two directors. One of the directors is also the manager of the child care agency. Both directors are fully involved in providing the child care agency service. The directors will be referred to as the provider throughout this report. Before 1 April 2011 this service was registered with the Care Commission. On this date the new scrutiny body, Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (SCSWIS), took over the work of the Care Commission, including the registration of care services. This means that from 1 April 2011 this service continued its registration under the new body, SCSWIS. Based on the findings of this inspection this service has been awarded the following grades: Quality of Care and Support - Grade 4 - Good Quality of Staffing - N/A Quality of Management and Leadership - Grade 5 - Very Good This report and grades represent our assessment of the quality of the areas of performance which were examined during this inspection. Grades for this care service may change following other regulatory activity. You can find the most up-to-date grades for this service by visiting our website or by calling us on or visiting one of our offices. Diamond Childcare Agency, page 4 of 17

5 2 How we inspected this service The level of inspection we carried out In this service we carried out a low intensity inspection. We carry out these inspections when we are satisfied that services are working hard to provide consistently high standards of care. What we did during the inspection We wrote this report following an unannounced inspection that took place on 30 August This visit also included the feedback session with the provider and the manager. Donna Laing, SCSWIS inspector carried out the inspection. As requested by us, the provider sent us an annual return. The provider also sent us a self assessment form. We sent out 10 Care Standards questionnaires to the service to be distributed to parents/carers before the inspection. We did not receive any completed questionnaires from parents. In this inspection we gathered evidence from various sources, including the relevant sections of policies, procedures, records and other documents including: - evidence from the provider's most recent self assessment - discussions the provider - personal files of children who use the service - recruitment policy - induction policy - training information - staff recruitment files. Grading the service against quality themes and statements We inspect and grade elements of care that we call 'quality themes'. For example, one of the quality themes we might look at is 'Quality of care and support'. Under each quality theme are 'quality statements' which describe what a service should be doing well for that theme. We grade how the service performs against the quality themes and statements. Details of what we found are in Section 3: The inspection Inspection Focus Areas (IFAs) In any year we may decide on specific aspects of care to focus on during our inspections. These are extra checks we make on top of all the normal ones we make Diamond Childcare Agency, page 5 of 17

6 during inspection. We do this to gather information about the quality of these aspects of care on a national basis. Where we have examined an inspection focus area we will clearly identify it under the relevant quality statement. Fire safety issues We do not regulate fire safety. Local fire and rescue services are responsible for checking services. However, where significant fire safety issues become apparent, we will alert the relevant fire and rescue services so they may consider what action to take. You can find out more about care services' responsibilities for fire safety at Diamond Childcare Agency, page 6 of 17

7 What the service has done to meet any recommendations we made at our last inspection This recommendation remains outstanding form the previous report. The provider should ensure that the aims and objectives of the child care agency are clearly detailed. The provider should make sure that parents and other agencies are aware that it is the child care agency only which is registered with us. NCS, Childcare Agencies, Standard 1, Information about the childcare agency. The annual return Every year all care services must complete an 'annual return' form to make sure the information we hold is up to date. We also use annual returns to decide how we will inspect the service. Annual Return Received: Yes - Electronic Comments on Self Assessment Every year all care services must complete a 'self assessment' form telling us how their service is performing. We check to make sure this assessment is accurate. The self assessment was completed to a very high standard. The service identified areas of strength and areas where they could improve. Taking the views of people using the care service into account We did not have the opportunity to speck with service users as part of this inspection Taking carers' views into account We did not receive any questionnaires back from service users. Diamond Childcare Agency, page 7 of 17

8 3 The inspection We looked at how the service performs against the following quality themes and statements. Here are the details of what we found. Quality Theme 1: Quality of Care and Support Overall grade awarded for this theme: 4 - Good Statement 1 We ensure that service users and carers participate in assessing and improving the quality of the care and support provided by the service. Service strengths The provider asked parents and children/young people about the quality of care and support in the following ways: - int ital visits are used to gather and share information about the children/ young people and the service - the provider told us the staff got to know the children at home before taking them on outings - they spoke to parents regularly on the telephone. These conversations are minuted and stored in the families files - courtesy visits were carried out every six months, ideas and suggestions given by parent were recorded and put into place following these meetings. The provider showed us examples where this had worked well - the staff spent time with the children/ young people and the parents asking what they like doing, for example a young person liked music and the carer took that person to concerts or a music festival - staff/ families text each other to keep up to date with arrangements - the provider told us they kept the same workers where possible with the children to help them get to know each other well - questionnaires were given to children/young people and parents We looked at the questionnaires and found that the comments were positive and there had been no suggestions for improvement. We found this service was performing to a very good standard in the areas covered by this statement. We concluded this after we: - spoke with the providers: - looked at children's profiles Diamond Childcare Agency, page 8 of 17

9 - looked at policies and procedures - looked at staff files. Areas for improvement The service could consider making their questionnaires for children more user friendly / age appropriate. Grade awarded for this statement: 5 - Very Good Number of requirements: 0 Number of recommendations: 0 Diamond Childcare Agency, page 9 of 17

10 Statement 6 People who use, or would like to use the service, and those who are ceasing the service, are fully informed as to what the service provides. Service strengths We found the service had good systems in place to fully inform people who use, or would like to use the service, and those who are ceasing the services to what the service provide Parents who planned to use the service and those who were using the service were given an information pack. The pack included information about the type of service to be offered, confirmation of the service's registration, emergency contact numbers and information about charges where appropriate. The complaints policy and the cancellation policy were also included. Arrangements were in place to carry out an assessment of the needs of children/ young people and families. The provider met with families to discuss their needs and parents completed a registration form. Written agreements were in place which set out details of the service to be provided, the terms and conditions and the arrangements for changing or ending the agreement.. Since the last inspection the provider had given parents / carer information on how to access the policies and procedures for the service. They had updated their complaints policy and had shared information regarding contracts with parent appropriately. We found this service was performing to a good standard in the areas covered by this statement. We concluded this after we: - spoke with the providers: - looked at children's profiles and assessment information - looked at staff files- Areas for improvement Diamond Child Care offers a range of services. The only part of the service which is registered with SCSWIS is the child care agency. ( See recommendation one.) Grade awarded for this statement: 4 - Good Number of requirements: 0 Number of recommendations: 1 Inspection report continued Diamond Childcare Agency, page 10 of 17

11 Recommendations Inspection report continued 1. The provider should ensure that the aims and objectives of the child care agency are clearly detailed. The provider should make sure that parents and other agencies are aware that it is the child care agency only which is registered with us. NCS, Childcare Agencies, Standard 1, Information about the childcare agency. Diamond Childcare Agency, page 11 of 17

12 Quality Theme 3: Quality of Staffing - NOT ASSESSED Diamond Childcare Agency, page 12 of 17

13 Quality Theme 4: Quality of Management and Leadership Grade awarded for this theme: 5 - Very Good Statement 1 We ensure that service users and carers participate in assessing and improving the quality of the management and leadership of the service. Service strengths We found the service had very good systems in place to ensure that service users and carers participated in assessing and improving the quality of the management and leadership of the service. For further information about how parents and children/young people are consulted refer to quality theme 1, statement 1, strengths. We found this service was performing to a very good standard in the areas covered by this statement. We concluded this after we: - spoke with the providers: - looked at children's profiles and assessment information - looked at staff files - looked at policies and procedures. Areas for improvement Please see statement 1.1 under theme 1 Grade awarded for this statement: 5 - Very Good Number of requirements: 0 Number of recommendations: 0 Diamond Childcare Agency, page 13 of 17

14 Statement 4 We use quality assurance systems and processes which involve service users, carers, staff and stakeholders to assess the quality of service we provide Service strengths We found the service had very good systems in place to ensure quality and involve parents and children/ young people in this, they did this by: - speaking with staff regularly - speaking with parent/ children young people regularly - holding two staff meetings per year - carrying out spot checks during courtesy visits to families - annual appraisals were carried out with staff members, the out come of these were recorded on staff files. The managers had overcome the issue of getting all staff to attend meetings. Staff found it hard to attend because of other commitments such as university or other jobs. The managers met with individually or in twos at a set time to share information and discuss work based issues. The providers told us staff members were able to access training. This training had included autism training and training through the Out of School Care Forum. All training courses were noted on staff members files. We found this service was performing to a very good standard in the areas covered by this statement. We concluded this after we: - spoke with the providers: - looked at children's profiles and assessment information - looked at staff files - looked at policies and procedures. Areas for improvement The providers should ensure formal minutes are given out to staff members after team meetings. Grade awarded for this statement: 5 - Very Good Number of requirements: 0 Number of recommendations: 0 Inspection report continued Diamond Childcare Agency, page 14 of 17

15 4 Other information Complaints No complaints have been upheld, or partially upheld, since the last inspection. Enforcements We have taken no enforcement action against this care service since the last inspection. Additional Information Action Plan Failure to submit an appropriate action plan within the required timescale, including any agreed extension, where requirements and recommendations have been made, will result in SCSWIS re-grading the Quality Statement within the Management and Leadership Theme as unsatisfactory (1). This will result in the Quality Theme for Management and Leadership being re-graded as Unsatisfactory (1). Diamond Childcare Agency, page 15 of 17

16 5 Summary of grades Quality of Care and Support Good Statement 1 Statement Very Good 4 - Good Quality of Staffing - Not Assessed Quality of Management and Leadership Very Good Statement 1 Statement Very Good 5 - Very Good 6 Inspection and grading history Date Type Gradings 16 Jun 2010 Announced Care and support 4 - Good Staffing 4 - Good Management and Leadership Not Assessed 25 Sep 2008 Announced Care and support 4 - Good Staffing 3 - Adequate Management and Leadership 3 - Adequate All inspections and grades before 1 April 2011 are those reported by the former regulator of care services, the Care Commission. Diamond Childcare Agency, page 16 of 17

17 To find out more about our inspections and inspection reports Read our leaflet 'How we inspect'. You can download it from our website or ask us to send you a copy by telephoning us on This inspection report is published by SCSWIS. You can get more copies of this report and others by downloading it from our website: or by telephoning Translations and alternative formats This inspection report is available in other languages and formats on request. Telephone: enquiries@scswis.com Web: Diamond Childcare Agency, page 17 of 17