29 March 2022
During a routine inspection
Domiciliary Care Service - Warwickshire is a is a community-based care provider that provides personal care to people living in their own homes and supported living settings. The service supported people with learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of inspection there were 17 people in receipt of the regulated activity of personal care who were living in their own homes.
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.
The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. People lived in their own homes in their chosen community. Where the provider offered people a home under a supported living arrangement, people’s homes were located near amenities, and transport routes, to allow people to live their lives as they chose.
People and relatives told us there were enough staff and they could rely on staff providing the care agreed at the times they wanted. Staff had assessed people’s safety and care needs and worked with their relatives and other health professionals to mitigate their risks. Staff had received training in safeguarding and knew the actions to take to keep people safe. Recruitment processes were in place and recruitment checks were carried out before staff were appointed. This ensured suitable staff were appointed to support people. People’s medicines were managed safely. The provider had infection control policies and procedures in place to guide staff on how to reduce the risk of infection.
Staff received induction and training and people were supported by staff who had the skills and knowledge to support them safely. People’s and their relative’s views were considered when care needs were assessed. People were provided with support to eat and drink well, to maintain their health. 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.
People were supported by kind and caring staff who knew them well. People’s individual needs were respected. Staff worked in ways which valued people and promoted their dignity, independence and privacy.
People’s care and support was planned in partnership with them and risk assessments were regularly updated. People’s care plans considered any communication support they may require and how staff should support people to take part in activities they enjoyed, and maintain relationships which were important to them.
Staff told us managers were approachable and they enjoyed working at the service. A health and social care professional who regularly worked with staff told us systems were in place to ensure effective joint working. The provider carried out regular audits of the service to oversee the quality of the care provided. The provider carried out competency checks to assess whether staff were working in line with best practice.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
This service was registered with us on 25 January 2022 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection for this newly registered service.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.