CQC report explained · a nursing home
What the CQC found at Step-forward support services
Rated Good: inspectors found the home performing well and meeting their expectations.
- Safe?
- Good
- People felt safe and staff understood their risks and safeguarding responsibilities. Medicines checks, recruitment checks and staffing arrangements were found to be suitable.
- Effective?
- Good
- Staff were trained and supported, and people received help with food, healthcare and their individual needs. Staff sought consent and used the least restrictive approach.
- Caring?
- Good
- People were treated with kindness, dignity and respect. Staff supported people to make choices and develop independence through activities such as cooking, cleaning and laundry.
- Responsive?
- Good
- Care was personalised and updated when people's needs changed. People were supported with communication, activities, relationships and complaints.
- Well-led?
- Good
- Managers were described as approachable and supportive. The home had quality checks, regular staff meetings and positive working relationships with health professionals.
What inspectors found, July 2019
Rated Good; inspectors found safe, kind and personalised care, with future wishes not yet fully recorded.
Inspectors visited unannounced on 12 and 14 June 2019. They spoke with two people living at the home, relatives, staff and health professionals. They also checked care records, staff recruitment records and the home's quality checks.
The home was rated Good in all five areas: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led. People told inspectors they felt safe, were treated with kindness and could make choices about their care. Staff knew people well and supported their independence, health, medicines, meals and activities.
The home supported two people at the inspection and had space for up to five. Inspectors found trained staff, suitable safeguarding and recruitment checks, good links with health professionals, and systems for learning from incidents and complaints.
This was the first inspection since the service registered in September 2016. No regulations were reported as breached. The report noted that care plans for future end of life wishes still needed further development, although nobody was receiving end of life care at the time.
People felt safe
People said they felt safe, and staff understood the risks and support each person needed. Inspectors saw that staff were available promptly.
“People felt safe with the support of staff.” from the report
Kind and respectful care
People were treated with kindness and respect. Staff supported privacy, personal choices and independence.
“People were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care.” from the report
Personalised support
Staff knew people well and adapted care to their preferences and changing needs. Care plans were reviewed when needed.
“People received individualised care and support from staff.” from the report
Good links with health services
Staff recognised health needs and worked with health professionals, including GPs, dentists, opticians and community mental health teams.
“All five healthcare professionals we communicated with told us people were well supported” from the report
Useful activities and independence
People were supported to take part in activities suited to their interests and to build relationships outside the home.
“We saw people enjoyed shopping trips and activities such as rock climbing and go-karting.” from the report
Future wishes needed more detail
minorThe report said care plans needed to record people's future wishes more fully. No one was receiving end of life care during the inspection.
“care plans needed to be developed to better record people's future wishes” from the report
- 01How do you now record and review a person's future wishes and end of life preferences?
- 02How will you make sure my relative's care plan is updated when their needs or wellbeing change?
- 03What activities and community opportunities would be available for my relative, based on their interests?
- 04How are medicines checks completed and any concerns acted on?
- 05How would relatives be kept informed and able to raise concerns about care?
This was a planned, unannounced inspection covering all five CQC questions and both the premises and care provided. This explanation was written from the published report of 12 July 2019 by an AI system and checked against the report text: every quoted line appears in the report. It is a guide to the report, not a substitute for it. Read the full report on cqc.org.uk.
Every inspection of Step-forward support services
Each visit the CQC has published, newest first, back to the day the home was registered.
- July 2019Goodcurrent ratingSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
Read what inspectors found at Step-forward support services →
- September 2016
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 20 September 2016.
Ratings and report dates from the Care Quality Commission, Open Government Licence v3.0. A home can also be visited without a new rating being published, so the timeline shows published inspections.
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Fees, photos and reviews from families
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What to check when you visit
At least 100 live-in carers within about an hour of Birmingham
These are self-employed carers on PrimeCarers, the introductory agency that runs this directory. Each has a profile with their own rates and reviews from families, and you choose who to talk to.
Most charge £950 to £1,230 a week. 79 can care for a couple. 9 years' experience on average.
“God doesn't make people like her anymore!”
“I have never met a person who is so kind and thinks about others before himself to such an extent as Chris Malagala.”
Every carer has had an enhanced DBS check in the last 18 months, ID and right-to-work checks and an online interview. Their skills and training are for you to check with them. Carers set their own rates, and who is free changes week to week.