Dedicated Care East Anglia Limited

Updated 6 June 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team: The inspection team consisted an inspector and an expert 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: 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. The registered manager was also one of two directors of the provider company Dedicated Care East Anglia Limited. The directors and registered manager have been referred to as the directors throughout this report.

Notice of inspection: We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because we needed to arrange to meet with people who used the service and staff. Inspection site visit activity started on 14 May 2019 and ended on 17 May 2019. We visited the office location on 14 May 2019 to meet the directors, staff and also some people who used the service; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did: Before the inspection we reviewed the information, we held about the service and the service provider. The registered provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information that we request that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and any further developments they plan to make. We looked at the notifications we had received for this service. Notifications are information about important events the service is required to send us by law.

During our visit to the provider’s office we met and spoke with six people who were using the service to gather their views about the care and support received. We made attempts to contact 12 people’s relatives and of those, we were able to speak with eight. During the office site visit we looked at records, which included people's support plans, daily care records and medicines records. We checked staff training and supervision records. We also looked at a range of records about how the service was managed. We also spoke with both directors of the company, one of the service managers from a supported living service and four support staff.

During the inspection activity a further 13 staff contacted us to share their positive experiences of working for the service. We also received feedback about the service from seven healthcare professionals.

Updated 6 June 2019

About the service: Dedicated Care East Anglia is registered to provide personal care to people in their own homes. Some people who used this service were living together in shared houses. On the day of our visit 25 people were using the service and in receipt of the regulated activity. The service provided care and support to people with learning disabilities and older people.

Not everyone using Dedicated Care East Anglia receives the regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin

Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

People’s experience of using this service:

People were fully involved and included in the planning and reviews of their care and support. Staff worked extremely closely with people to learn about and improve people's experiences.

People highly valued their relationships with staff and felt very well supported and cared for.

People felt that they mattered.

All feedback received was overwhelmingly positive about the support, guidance and care people received.

Relatives were full of commendation for the staff in terms of their kindness and skills.

People were supported by staff who were creative in their approach to supporting them and promoted their independence as much as possible.

People’s care needs were very well known by the staff who were supporting them.

People received care in a manner which was in accordance with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The service was extremely well managed and people and their relatives consistently praised the passion and drive of the directors and their motivation to provide an exceptional service.

Rating at last inspection: The service was rated ‘Good’ at our last inspection on 19 October 2016. The report following that inspection was published on 11 November 2016.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

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