Archived: Domiciliary Care Agency Kent and Sussex

Updated 23 August 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 two inspectors.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in eight ‘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; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

Registered Manager

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

This inspection was announced.

We gave the service 48 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 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 visited four people’s houses and spoke to five people who lived there about their experience of the care provided. We also spoke to one relative. We spoke with ten members of staff including the registered manager, home managers and support staff.

We reviewed a range of records including three peoples care and support plans and medication records. We also reviewed a number of documents relating to the running of the service, this included audits.

Updated 23 August 2022

About the service

Domiciliary Care Agency Kent and Sussex is a service that provides personal care and support to adults living in 'supported living' settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. This supported living service meets the needs of people with a learning disability and autistic people, people with mental health needs, and people who have a physical disability. Not everybody using the service received the Regulated activity of personal care. At the time of this inspection there were twenty people receiving personal care at eight different homes. The service is run from an office in Rochester in Kent.

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.

Rights Support

Staff focused on people’s strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life. For example, people were supported to go out to work and one person told us they loved going to work. Staff supported people to achieve their aspirations and goals. One person told us how they were supported to pursue their goal of being a DJ. Staff supported people to take part in activities, pursue their interests in their local area and to interact online with people who had shared interests. Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community.

Right Care

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs. During inspection we observed staff to be kind and compassionate to people, taking a genuine interest in what they liked doing and the support they needed. People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs. Information would be given in a format that people needed such as picture cards and easy read posters. An easy read poster with the inspector’s picture on was given prior to visiting peoples’ homes. People had help to access easy read information to help people understand about this inspection. People’s care, treatment and support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life.

Right Culture

People and those important to them, including advocates, were involved in planning their care. Staff knew and understood people well and were responsive, supporting their aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing. For example, one person was supported to go on holiday this year and they were able to pick what they wanted to do which best suited them. People received good quality care, support and treatment because trained staff and specialists could meet their needs and wishes. Staff we spoke to were able to tell us people’s needs and preferences in relation to their care, support and aspirations.

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.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 05 July 2018)

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of Right support right care right culture.

Follow up

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