This inspection took place on 13 and 16 October and was announced.

The reablement service provides up to 6 weeks support for people living in the community. Its primary aim is to promote independence so that people can remain living in their own home, help people recover faster from illness and to prevent unnecessary admission to hospital and long term care facilities. Where some people required longer term care, the service also provided this and we visited some people who were receiving short term reablement, and some who had moved on to receive long term support from the service. The service was providing the regulated activity of personal care to 134 people at the time of inspection.

There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The service focussed on encouraging people to become more independent and empowering people. People told us that the service had a positive impact on them and spoke about the impact the support had on their physical and mental well being.

Staff were aware of their responsibilities in protecting people from harm and knew how to report any concerns about people's safety or wellbeing. People had individual risk assessments giving staff the guidance and information they needed to support people safely.

People were supported by staff who were recruited safely and were familiar to them. People and relatives felt that staff had the sufficient skills and knowledge to support them and we saw that staff had access to relevant training for their role. Staff received regular supervision and appraisals and we saw that they also had competency checks to monitor their practice and drive improvements.

Staff understood what support people needed to manage their medicines safely and these were given as prescribed.

Staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act and were able to explain how they considered capacity and consent when they supported people.

People were supported to receive enough to eat and drink and where there were concerns about people’s weight, these were monitored closely and relevant professionals involved.

People were supported by staff who were kind and caring in their approach. Staff respected people’s privacy and information was stored confidentially.

Care plans provided details about what was important to people. Support was reviewed regularly and support altered to meet peoples changing needs.

People and relatives knew how to complain if they needed to and where complaints had been received, these had been recorded and responded to.

Staff were confident in their roles and understood their responsibilities. People and relatives felt that the office was easy to contact and staff were helpful. Communication between staff was effective and the registered manager spoke highly about their staff team.

Quality assurance provided oversight and was used to identify gaps or trends and drive improvements. The registered manager received regular support and linked with other professionals to implement best practice.