Descare Ltd

Updated 10 February 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 an inspector and an Expert by Experience who completed telephone calls to people and their relatives. 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 provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service short 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 12 January 2023 and ended on 17 January 2023. We visited the office/service on 12 January 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since registration. 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.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager, the compliance manager and the deputy manager during the site visit. We spoke with one person who used the service, four relatives and four care staff via the telephone. We contacted health and social care professionals and received three responses.

We reviewed a range of records including two people's care records, a sample of daily diaries and medicine records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment, supervision and training. We viewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service such as incidents and accidents and quality assurance audits.

Updated 10 February 2023

Descare Limited is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection, there was a total of nine people receiving support. Only two people were receiving personal care from the service.

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.

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

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. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

People were receiving safe care and treatment from regular and familiar staff. People and their relatives spoke positively about the care and support they were receiving. They told us the staff were kind, caring and treated them with respect. People were supported to lead the life they wanted with the support from staff. This included maintaining friendships, taking part in meaningful activities of their choice, and to continue to live in their own or the family home.

Staff had received training and were supported by the management team. Checks were completed before they started working with people. Risk assessments had been completed where there were gaps, such as a missing reference whilst they were following up to ensure a second reference was in place.

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. Care was planned with people and where relevant their relatives. Comprehensive assessments of people’s support needs were completed to ensure suitable skilled staff were matched with people.

There were systems to monitor the quality of the service. The registered manager and the management team had good oversight of the service. The registered manager was very hands on and worked alongside staff. They understood with growth of the business more formal systems needed to be in place to ensure people were receiving a quality service. A deputy manager had been employed to assist with these formal arrangements.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

This service was registered with us on 8 December 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection to check whether the provider was meeting legal requirements and regulations, and to provide a rating for the service as directed by the Care Act 2014.

Follow up

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