YoD Care Services (Oxfordshire)

Updated 21 June 2023

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 2 inspectors 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

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

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

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.

Inspection activity started on 8 June 2023 and ended on 12 June 2023. We visited the location’s office on 8 June 2023.

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. 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. In addition, we referred to the last inspection report and the action plan we received from the provider and used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

During the inspection we looked at the care records for six people. We also looked at 4 staff files and other records relating to the management of the service. We spoke with 4 people, 5 relatives and the registered manager. In addition, we spoke with the Local Authority to obtain their views on the service.

After the inspection

Following the inspection, we continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We also contacted 12 staff by email to obtain their views and knowledge about the service.

Updated 21 June 2023

About the service

YoD Care Services are a domiciliary care service providing personal care. The service provides support to older people in their own homes in Oxfordshire. At the time of our inspection there were 58 people using the service.

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

People were protected from abuse and harm. Staff demonstrated they knew how to report any concerns relating to people’s safety and the service had systems to report and investigate concerns. Risk assessments identified how potential risks should be managed to reduce the likelihood of people experiencing harm. Staff understood the risks to people and delivered safe care in accordance with people's support plans. There were sufficient staff deployed to keep people safe and meet their needs. The service aimed to ensure only suitable staff were selected to work with vulnerable people, and checks were carried out to allow safe recruitment decisions to be made.

People received their medicine as prescribed, and we saw medicines were managed appropriately and records were accurate and up to date and monitored electronically. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff provided them with care in the least restrictive way possible and acted in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service promoted this practice.

People, relatives and staff spoke positively of the management; they found them approachable and supportive. Staff were given appropriate responsibility which was continuously monitored and checked by the registered manager. There were effective systems to monitor, maintain and improve the quality of the service. Policies were in place, relevant and up to date.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

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 requires improvement (Published 10 May 2022).

Why we inspected

We carried out an announced inspection of this service on 7 April 2022. Breaches of legal requirements relating to good governance were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve good governance.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe and well-led which contain those 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 to Good based on the findings of this inspection.

Follow up

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