DCC High Peak Home Care

Updated 24 February 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

This inspection was carried out by one inspector and two Experts by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats and extra care housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is bought or rented and is the occupant’s own home. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support service.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the registered manager or senior staff member would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 07 January 2022 and ended on 21 January 2022. We visited the location’s office on 11 January 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included the action plans they had submitted following their last inspection. We sought feedback from professionals who worked with the service. 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. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 19 people using the service and three family members about their experience of using the service. We reviewed four medicine records and six care records. We spoke with eight members of staff including the registered manager, Domiciliary Service Organiser (DSO) and care staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 10 people's care records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 24 February 2022

About the service

DCC High Peak Home Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides care to people living in their own houses and flats and also at two extra care facilities in the High Peak area of Derbyshire. The service supports younger adults, older people, people living with dementia and people with physical disabilities living in their own homes. Most people received a short-term reablement service following a period of hospitalisation or illness. At the time of the inspection, there were 92 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 received safe care and support. Staff had received training on safeguarding adults and were aware of their responsibilities to protect people from avoidable harm. Risks associated with people’s individual needs had been assessed and planned for. Up to date guidance was available for staff to follow. Learning from mistakes took place to reduce the risk of recurrence.

People told us they were happy with their care and felt involved in care planning and delivery. People told us they received their calls on time and by staff who they felt were suitably qualified. Care plans were personalised and contained person-centred information. There were sufficient staff to meet people’s individual needs. People received support in line with national best practice guidance, in the administration of their medicines. Safe recruitment procedures were used, to support in making recruitment decisions.

People’s care and support reflected their individual assessed needs. Where people received support with reablement needs, choice and independence were promoted. The provider understood that staff required mandatory training, and this was made available to staff, by provision of online workbooks and one to one training. Information was shared with external healthcare professionals, to support people with their ongoing healthcare needs.

People consistently gave good reports about the staff providing their care. They described staff as being caring and patient. People told us they were involved in decisions about the care and support they received. People received care and support that respected their individual preferences and lifestyle choices.

Roles, responsibility and accountability arrangements were made clear. Systems for identifying, capturing and managing risk were effective, with regular reviews of care plans, daily logs and medicine records. A complaints procedure enabled people to raise any complaints and any received were fully investigated. Quality assurance systems and processes were used to monitor quality and safety. The registered manager was aware of their registration regulatory responsibilities. Staff were positive about the leadership and support provided by their managers.

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 told us they were asked for their consent prior to any services being provided. The provider was working within the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and we saw where capacity assessments had been completed if there was any doubt that people were unable to make their own choices.

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 11 September 2021). At the last three inspections, breaches of Regulations were found. The provider had completed an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found enough improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

This service has been in Special Measures since the last inspection. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that significant improvements have been made. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

Why we inspected

We carried out an announced focused inspection of this service on 11 January 2022. We undertook this focused inspection to check to check whether the Warning Notice we previously served in relation to Regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 had been met and to confirm they now met legal requirements.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for DCC High Peak Home Care 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.