Dependable Care Services Limited

Dependable care is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 15 people using the service.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People told us staff treated people with kindness and respect. Comments included, “They are all lovely, they come in and get on with it” and “I have no complaints, they treat me very well and make sure I have everything I need.”

Since the service registered there had been a couple of managers. The new manager at the time of the inspection told us at the beginning of the inspection they were going through a process of change across the service. In their new role they had identified there were areas of concern that required addressing and had formulated a service improvement plan (SIP), setting out what needed to be achieved, by whom and by when and shared it with us.

The provider and manager were open and approachable. They acknowledged that things had been wrong and were taking action to improve and prevent re occurrence. They both recognised the importance of communication with people who use the service and staff.

At the time of the inspection there was not a manager registered with CQC. The manager told us they would be starting the process of applying to become the registered manager.

Medicines had not been safely managed. The manager had identified this and had put in place new systems to improve medicine management at the service.

Staff understood how safeguarding was part of their role and knew to report concerns. The new manager had identified a few safeguarding concerns which had not previously been followed up. They had reported them to the local authority and notified CQC as required. Systems were being put in place to ensure safeguarding concerns were acted upon appropriately going forward.

When people started using the service a welcome visit was completed and environmental risks assessed. Their care needs were assessed, and new care plans had been completed but these were still work in progress. The local fire service had agreed to undertake an annual visit to speak with people about their fire safety.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Enough staff were employed to meet people's needs. The manager had identified that staff had not always been recruited safely. They had implemented new systems to improve staff recruitment and induction. Staff were receiving supervision and were being kept informed about changes being made.

The manager and the provider were improving staff training and had sourced a new online training provider and were looking for additional face to face training. Five staff had been enrolled on higher qualification training in health and social care to help them within their roles.

A system to record any incidents and accidents that occurred had been put into place, and then lessons learnt as a result which was shared with staff. People said they knew the provider and would let them know if they were not happy. They were confident the provider would take action.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

This service was registered with us on 11 May 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out due to the length of time the provider had been registered with CQC without receiving a formal rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.