Age UK Doncaster

Updated 7 April 2020

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection team was made up on one inspector, an assistant 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

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

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

This inspection was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice as we needed to be sure the registered manager or a member of the management team was available to help us with the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 09 March 2020 and ended on 19 March 2020. The inspector visited the office location on 09 and 10 March 2020. The assistant inspector and Expert by Experience made telephone calls 09 and 10 March 2020.

What we did before the inspection

Before the inspection we reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included looking at information held on our database about the service for example, statutory notifications completed by the registered provider.

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

We also sought feedback from the local authority contracts and commissioning teams and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with eleven people and eight relatives. In addition, we spoke with 18 staff including the nominated individual, the registered manager, a trustee, the care manager, training and well-being manager and one volunteer.

To gather information, we looked at a variety of records. This included care records related to five people, and multiple medicines administration records. We also looked at information related to the management of the service. These included audits, quality assurance documents and safety certification. We did this to check the management team had oversight of the service and to make sure the service was appropriately managed.

After the inspection

Following the inspection, we spoke with the registered manager to corroborate our findings.

Updated 7 April 2020

About the service

Age UK Doncaster provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection, Age UK Doncaster was providing regulated activity to 86 people.

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

People told us the service was safe. They said staffing levels met their needs. Medicines were managed safely. Staff had an awareness of people’s needs. Systems and processes continued to be followed to ensure people were protected from risk of abuse. Risk was sometimes managed and addressed. We made a recommendation about the management of risk and the provider took immediate action.

People told us the care they received was effective. People’s needs, and choices were assessed in line with standards, guidance and the law. The provider had developed relationships with other professionals which promoted effective care. People were supported to live healthier lives and have control within their lives. Staff told us they had access to training and felt supported in their roles. People’s nutritional needs were met. Consent was routinely sought but did not always consistently follow the process of the Mental Capacity Act. We made a recommendation and the provider took immediate action to address this. 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, relatives and professionals all agreed the service was well-led. The management team was aware of their responsibilities and was committed to providing high-quality, person-centred care. The provider understood the importance of continuous learning and driving up standards. When areas for improvement were identified during the inspection process, the provider worked swiftly to ensure improvements were made. The registered provider understood the importance of partnership working. They engaged with people, staff and the wider public. Staff said the service was a good place to work. The provider had a system for monitoring quality and safety.

People and relatives all agreed staff were kind and caring. They told us privacy and dignity were always promoted. There was a focus on promoting independence and building community networks.

People told us they received person-centred care. They confirmed they were consulted with and able to contribute to how they lived and were supported. No one had any complaints at the time of the visit and everyone we spoke with was confident any complaints would be dealt with effectively by management. Processes were in place to effectively and compassionately support people at the end of life.

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 good (published 09 October 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

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