Royal Mencap Society - Rotherham and Sheffield Domiciliary Care Agency

Updated 1 October 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 two inspectors 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.

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

This inspection was announced. We gave the registered manager short notice of the inspection. This was because we needed time for the agency to request permission from people for us to contact them by phone to gain their views of the service. We also wanted to gain permission to visit people in their homes.

Inspection activity started on 9 September 2021 and ended on 13 September 2021. We visited the office location on 13 September 2021.

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 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. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke in person or over the telephone with nine people who used the service and 18 relatives. We e-mailed all staff to ask a range of questions, 20 staff replied to us. We spoke with 13 staff in person, including area operations managers, an administrator, service managers and support workers. We visited the office location to review written records. We looked at four people’s care records. We checked records relating to the management of the service including policies and procedures and quality assurance records.

After the inspection

We continued to ask for further information from the registered manager to validate evidence found.

Updated 1 October 2021

About the service

Royal Mencap Society - Rotherham and Sheffield Domiciliary Care Agency is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. 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 the service was providing personal care to 68 people.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People told us they felt safe whilst being cared for by staff. Relatives agreed their family members were safe. One relative said, “We are really happy because [name] is really happy”. We saw people were happy and trusted the staff.

There were systems and processes in place to minimise risks to people. These included making sure staff knew how to recognise and report abuse. There were adequate numbers of staff available to meet people's needs in a timely manner. Recruitment checks were completed prior to staff being employed which helped make sure staff employed were of good character. People, relatives and staff all said managers had dealt with the pandemic very well. One relative said, “The way they dealt with the pandemic was marvellous. [Name] stepped out of her routine, and they didn’t let it affect her.”

People were supported to receive adequate food and drink to remain healthy. People chose what they wanted to eat and drink. Staff received regular training, supervision and appraisal so they were skilled and competent to carry out their role. 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.

Staff knew the people they were supporting and provided a personalised service. Support plans showed how people wished to be supported and people were involved in making decisions about their care. Staff treated people with respect and people's dignity and privacy was actively promoted.

Staff were proactive in engaging people with individual activities of their preferred choice. People told us about their social calendars and how busy they were. Systems were in place to deal promptly and appropriately with any complaints or concerns. The registered provider treated complaints as an opportunity to learn and improve.

The service was led by an experienced registered manager and management team. The registered provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service, seek people's views and make on-going improvements. Staff were motivated to perform their roles and worked to empower people to be as independent and as possible. People, relatives and staff were encouraged to provide feedback about the service, and it was used to ensure continuous improvement. Most staff felt they were listened to by senior managers and changes made to improve the service and their job satisfaction. However, some staff said they had not seen any changes or improvements made in response to their suggestions and concerns.

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.

Right support: People's choice was maximised, and they were supported to develop more control and independence.

Right care: Care was person-centred and promoted people's dignity, privacy and human rights.

Right culture: Ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensured people lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.

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 the service under the previous provider was good, published on 5 October 2017.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.