Archived: Domiciliary Care Service - Warwickshire

Updated 29 April 2022

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by three inspectors. One inspector visited the office location on the 29 March 2022 and two supported living locations, at people’s invitation. Another inspector made telephone calls to people and their relatives on 30 March 2022. The third inspector made phone calls to staff to gather their feedback on 31 March 2022.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. The provider also provides care and support to people living in ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living or domiciliary care; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support. The service supported people with a learning disability and/or autistic spectrum disorder.

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with one person who used the service and five people’s relatives. We visited two locations where people lived in their local community in supported living. We spoke with six members of staff including the nominated individual, the registered manager and a local manager. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We gathered feedback from two health and social care professionals. We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and medication records. We looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.

Following the inspection

We continued to receive governance documents and people’s records for review from the registered manager, to gather the information we needed to complete our inspection.

Updated 29 April 2022

About the service

Domiciliary Care Service - Warwickshire is a is a community-based care provider that provides personal care to people living in their own homes and supported living settings. The service supported people with learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of inspection there were 17 people in receipt of the regulated activity of personal care who were living in their own homes.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. People lived in their own homes in their chosen community. Where the provider offered people a home under a supported living arrangement, people’s homes were located near amenities, and transport routes, to allow people to live their lives as they chose.

People and relatives told us there were enough staff and they could rely on staff providing the care agreed at the times they wanted. Staff had assessed people’s safety and care needs and worked with their relatives and other health professionals to mitigate their risks. Staff had received training in safeguarding and knew the actions to take to keep people safe. Recruitment processes were in place and recruitment checks were carried out before staff were appointed. This ensured suitable staff were appointed to support people. People’s medicines were managed safely. The provider had infection control policies and procedures in place to guide staff on how to reduce the risk of infection.

Staff received induction and training and people were supported by staff who had the skills and knowledge to support them safely. People’s and their relative’s views were considered when care needs were assessed. People were provided with support to eat and drink well, to maintain their health. 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.

People were supported by kind and caring staff who knew them well. People’s individual needs were respected. Staff worked in ways which valued people and promoted their dignity, independence and privacy.

People’s care and support was planned in partnership with them and risk assessments were regularly updated. People’s care plans considered any communication support they may require and how staff should support people to take part in activities they enjoyed, and maintain relationships which were important to them.

Staff told us managers were approachable and they enjoyed working at the service. A health and social care professional who regularly worked with staff told us systems were in place to ensure effective joint working. The provider carried out regular audits of the service to oversee the quality of the care provided. The provider carried out competency checks to assess whether staff were working in line with best practice.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 25 January 2022 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection for this newly registered service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.