Background to this inspection
Updated
13 November 2021
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
The inspection was carried out by one inspector.
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 service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. The manager was also the nominated individual. This means that they were also the provider and 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 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.
Inspection activity started on 05 October 2021 and ended on 13 October 2021. We visited the office location on 05 October 2021.
What we did before the inspection
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
During the inspection
We spoke with three members of staff, the quality assurance manager and the registered manager, who was also the nominated individual and responsible for supervising the management of the service as the provider.
We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We spoke with one person who used the service and four relatives about their experiences of the care provided.
Updated
13 November 2021
About the service
Diverse City Care Ltd is a domiciliary care agency. It is registered to provide personal care to children, younger and older people, people living with dementia, physical disabilities, sensory impairment, learning disabilities and/or autistic spectrum disorder, as well as mental health needs.
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. At the time of this inspection ten people were receiving personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The registered manager, who was also the provider, was passionate about providing person-centred care. They knew people well as they were involved in their care delivery. The provider sought feedback from people and their relatives about their care experience and any issues raised, were dealt with.
People were supported by staff who knew how to keep them safe from harm or abuse. People were supported with their medicines in a safe way by staff that had been safely recruited. Staff were provided with sufficient amounts of personal protective equipment (PPE) to mitigate the risk of cross infection. Staff had good knowledge of the risks associated with providing people's care and had received training relevant to people's needs. People were supported to eat and drink enough.
People were supported to express their views, preferences, wishes and choices. The provider undertook, as much as possible, to try and match staff to the people they were supporting. This contributed to the delivery of successful and culturally specific care and support to people. A relative told us, “The staff engage with [person] on a personal level, they do [person’s] hair beautifully, they (the service) are so unique I never knew services like this were out there.” The provider worked effectively with health and social care agencies.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive ways possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
Staff supported people to engage in their hobbies and interests, while promoting people's independence. The provider’s service was flexible and responsive to people's individual needs. People and relatives knew how to raise a concern or make a complaint and felt confident they would be addressed.
People, relatives and staff gave examples of care delivery demonstrating kindness and compassion. Staff we spoke with were committed to ensuring people's care and overall wellbeing needs were being met. People's diversity was supported and people's privacy and dignity was respected.
The provider completed audits to monitor the quality of the service. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on staffing meant at times some people received care from staff they had not previously met or were familiar with. Some people and relatives felt the service could communicate more clearly with them when there were staff changes or when a replacement staff member would be sent.
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 14 June 2019 and this was their first inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection for this service.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.