Mencap Derbyshire and Derby City Domiciliary Care Agency

Updated 10 May 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 of one 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. The expert-by-experience did not attend the office base of the service, but spoke by telephone with some people who used the service and some people’s relatives.

Service and service type: Mencap Derbyshire and Derby City Domiciliary Care Agency provides support to adults with a learning disability living in their own homes.

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: We gave the service a weeks’ notice of the inspection visit, as we needed to be sure that someone would be available at the office. We also needed to arrange to speak to people who used the service and their relatives as part of this inspection and to the staff that supported people.

What we did when preparing for and carrying out this inspection:

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about. We contacted the local authority who commission services from the provider. We assessed the information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

We spoke with 11 people who used the service and six people’s relatives. When visiting people in their homes, we observed the support they received from staff within the communal areas of their home. We spoke with three staff members that were supporting people. We spent time with two service managers’ during the inspection, two assistant service managers and the registered manager. We looked at the records held regarding three people’s care and support and we checked how medicines were managed. We also looked at four staff recruitment files and other documents to review how the provider monitored the support people received.

Updated 10 May 2019

About the service:

Mencap Derbyshire and Derby City Domiciliary Care Agency is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to adults with a learning disability living in their own homes. Some people lived alone and others with other people that were also receiving a service from Mencap Derbyshire and Derby City Domiciliary Care Agency. Some people received support from staff at various times of the day and others over a full 24-hour period. Not everyone using the service received a 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. At the time of the inspection 24 people were provided with the regulated activity of personal care.

People’s experience of using this service:

The service met the characteristics of ‘Good’. Staff understood their responsibilities to safeguard people and report any concerns. People received support to take their medicines safely. Recruitment checks determined the suitability of new staff to protect people that used the service. The risk of people acquiring an infection, was minimised as infection control procedures were in place and followed. Support plans were in place to promote positive behaviours and safeguard people from injury when they became anxious.

People received the support they needed as sufficient staff were available to support them to do what they wanted to do. The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support in the following ways; People were supported to take reasonable risks which enabled them with opportunities to lead a full life. People spent their day as they preferred and were supported to take part in social activities of their choice to enhance their well-being.

Staff understood the support people needed to make decisions when they were unable to make specific decisions independently. Mental capacity assessments and best interest decisions were undertaken where people needed support to make specific decisions. This demonstrated that people’s rights were upheld and they were supported in the least restrictive way possible.

People were supported as needed, to ensure their preferences and dietary needs were met. Healthcare services were accessible to people with staff support as needed, and people received coordinated support, to ensure their preferences and needs were met.

Information was available in an accessible format to support people’s understanding. People maintained relationships with their family and friends and were encouraged to give their views about the service. This included raising any concerns they had. People and their representatives were involved in their care to enable them to receive support in their preferred way.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and these were used effectively to enable the provider and registered manager to drive improvement.

Rating at last inspection: Good (report published 11/01/2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

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