Disabled Children Community Support Team

Updated 4 June 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 was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type:

Disabled Children Community Support Team is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to young people and children in their 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 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit we needed to be sure that someone would be available at the office. The inspection site visit took place on 20 March 2019. We spoke with two relatives by telephone on 26 and 27 March 2019. We sought the views of one relative via email on 26 March 2019. Six staff were emailed on 31 March 2019 for their views.

What we did:

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 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 spent time with the registered manager during the inspection site visit and two health and social care professionals. Following the inspection site visit we spoke with two children and young people’s relatives by telephone to ask about their experience of the care provided and one relative was contacted via email. We sought the views of six home support workers by e-mail, we received response from five home support workers. We reviewed a range of records, which included the care records for three children and young people. We checked that the care they received matched the information in their records. We also looked at records relating to the management of the service, including quality checks and staff files. We also looked at two staff recruitment files.

We requested additional evidence to be sent to us after our inspection, which included training information and staff induction. This was received and the information was used as part of our inspection.

Updated 4 June 2019

About the service:

¿The Disabled Children's Community Support team is registered to provide personal care to children up to the age of 18 years with a learning disability, Autistic spectrum disorder, physical disability or complex health needs. The support is provided to children in Derby city, in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service were supporting 14 children and young people between the age of 4–17 years old.

People’s experience of using this service:

¿Children and young people benefitted from an outstanding caring service. Children, young people and adults were protected from potential abuse and avoidable harm by staff who were exceptionally well trained in safeguarding. Relatives felt their family members were safe with the support they received from staff. Staff went above and beyond their roles to ensure children and young people were protected from risks, by ensuring they followed risk assessments and reported any issues with equipment immediately to the relevant agencies.

¿There were enough numbers of staff to meet children and young people’s needs, who received support from a consistent staff team. Relatives were highly complementary about the staff.

¿The providers recruitment procedures were robust. Recruitment checks were undertaken, to determine the suitability of new staff to protect children and young people that used the service.

¿Staff had the skills, knowledge and an excellent understanding of children and young people’s individual needs and how they wished to be supported. Staff training was delivered around children and young people’s individual needs, which ensured they could be supported effectively by competent staff.

¿Care plans and risk assessments were individualised, providing guidance for staff in supporting children and young people safely.

¿Staff had received training in infection control and were provided with the necessary personal protective equipment to use when carrying out care and support tasks. Relatives confirmed staff used gloves and aprons whilst supporting their family member.

¿Staff were aware of the importance of seeking consent and demonstrated an understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

¿The service worked closely with other professionals and organisations. Health and social care professionals were extremely complimentary about the care and support staff provided; working in partnership to meet children and young people’s needs.

¿Children and young people were cared for by staff who were extremely kind and caring, maintaining their privacy and dignity. Staff encouraged children and young people to be as independent as possible, where they were safe to do so.

¿The provider’s complaints policy and procedure were accessible to people who used the service and their representatives. People knew how to make a complaint and felt their concerns would be listened to and addressed.

¿The provider monitored the quality of the service provided to children and young people, to drive improvement. Relatives were asked for their views about the service.

Rating at last inspection:

¿At our last inspection, the service was rated 'Good'. Our last report was published on 25 May 2016.

Why we inspected:

¿This was a planned comprehensive inspection based on the rating from the previous inspection. The service has been rated as 'Good' overall following this inspection.

Follow up:

¿We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our 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