Dunston Community Centre

Updated 10 November 2023

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

An inspector carried out the inspection.

Service and service type

Duston Community Centre is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in place. However, one of the other directors was taking steps to become the registered manager.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave a short period of notice of the inspection because we needed to ensure the management team were available and to contact people to gather their feedback.

Inspection activity started on 9 October and ended on 19 October 2023. The inspector visited the office location on 19 October 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We also sought feedback from partner agencies and healthcare professionals. These included the local authority’s contracts and commissioning services. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection

We contacted all the people who used the service and we also received feedback of a house manager of an independent living environment for older people. We spoke with the two directors, and we received feedback from 6 care staff.

We looked at 4 people's care records, and a variety of management and quality assurance records for the service.

Updated 10 November 2023

About the service

Dunston Community Centre (Homecare North East CIC) is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes and offers services to people in and around Gateshead. At the time of our inspection there were 23 people using the service.

Not everyone using Dunston Community Centre receives a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with '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

Systems were in place for monitoring the quality of the service, however due to recent staff vacancies these had not always been completed. This had not impacted the quality of care delivered and the management team were in the process of reviewing all other aspects of the operation of the service.

The management team were taking all steps to ensure vacancies were filled and staffing levels were reflective of the care hours needed. They only accepted new care packages when they were assured enough staff were in place. There were enough staff on duty to cover the care packages. Staff told us the rotas were very well organised and gave them enough time to get to people on time and properly support people.

An active recruitment programme was in place. We found recruitment practices were, in general, meeting requirements. We discussed enhancements that could be made, which the provider immediately started to implement. People and relatives reported they found staff were skilled, knowledgeable and competent.

People told us they were extremely satisfied with the service. People and relatives said staff always went above and beyond in delivering the care. They described how staff were attentive, diligent and they never felt rushed. The provider had developed a culture within the staff team, which people found was like receiving care akin to that delivered by very close and attentive family members. People found the service provided a high standard of care and told us staff working with them were fabulous.

Staff told us the provider clearly understood the difficulties life might present and how these could adversely affect work life so had introduced compassionate and innovative ways to support staff through challenges they might face. People, relatives and staff felt the management team were very responsive and approachable. People and relatives found the service communicated with them extremely effectively.

Medicine management was effective and closely monitored. Staff who administered medicines had the appropriate training. The provider ensured staff had access to ample supplies of PPE and they completed regular spot checks to make sure staff complied with the guidance and best practice.

Staff had received training around the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and associated code of practice and felt confident applying this in their practice. 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 found the management team had made sure they enhanced people's lives. Staff took steps to safeguard people and promote their human rights. The management team had formed extremely effective working relationships with health and social care professionals, and this had led to many positive outcomes for people and their quality of life.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (report published 1 September 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key question not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Dunston Community Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Follow up

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