One of our services, which specialises in supporting children and young people who are registered Deafblind, has been rated as ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) who called it ‘kind, caring and compassionate’.
Following an inspection in June, the CQC rated all five areas of our Multi-Sensory Impairment Enabling (MSIE) service as ‘good’ – they said the service was ‘safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led’.
MSIE is a specialist service, supporting children and young people in their education settings and in the community who are registered Deafblind with associated conditions.
In addition to being registered Deafblind many of the children and young people have additional needs including complex health conditions and support with personal care.
All support packages are long term, specialist packages funded and commissioned by us.
Inspectors said that they found that every child and young person is ‘supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives’ and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and put them ‘at the heart of the service’.
Families told inspectors that staffing arrangements ‘met their (child’s) needs’ and one parent told the inspectors that they knew when their child was with them, ‘they are 100 per cent safe.’
Inspectors agreed and said that they found that the young people in their care ‘received effective care and support from staff who were well trained and competent.’
In the report it says that 1.7 full time staff are required to meet current overall support hours fully and when asked, some health professionals and families said that the service had had issues with recruitment and staff retention.
However, inspectors noted that the service is aware of the issue and any shortages are mitigated by a system that allows staffing levels to be adjusted depending on if a person’s needs increased or decreased.
The inspection team praised the personalisation of all care files as it ‘detailed people’s personal preferences’ and because of this their views and suggestions were taken into account to improve the service.
The CQC concluded:
“Staff and management relationships with people were caring and supportive…(and)…staff provided care that was kind and compassionate…
“The provider works hard to instil a culture of care in which staff truly valued and promoted people’s individuality, protected their rights and enabled them to develop and flourish.”
Councillor Lois Samuel, Cabinet Member for SEND Improvement Services, said:
“We are very proud of the service, and I’m pleased that the Care Quality Commmission has recognised the hard work of staff at the Multi-Sensory Impairment Enabling (MSIE) and the solid relationship that they have built up with the young people, children and families who rely on the service.”
If you would like to find out more about the work of the service, please contact joanna.thomas@devon.gov.uk.