Deaconstar Limited

Updated 23 December 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 team consisted of 2 inspectors 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 provides care and support to people living in 3 ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

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

The inspection was announced. We gave 48 hours’ 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. We visited the location’s office on 20 November 2023. An Expert by Experience made telephone calls to relatives on 23 November 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority 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. 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. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 7 people about their experience of the care provided and 7 relatives. We spoke with the registered manager, and 2 support workers. We received feedback from 4 staff by e-mail. We looked at written records, which included 4 people’s care records and 2 staff files. A variety of records relating to medicines and the management of the service were also reviewed.

Updated 23 December 2023

About the service

Deaconstar Limited provides personal care and support to people living in ‘supported living' settings across Bishop Auckland, so that they can live in their own home as independently as possible. The service provides support to people with a learning disability and/or autism. At the time of our inspection there were 18 people using the service.

People’s experience of the service and what we found:

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessment and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support:

Medicines were given safely but some systems needed review to ensure best practice was always followed. We have made a recommendation about medicines. 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. Some documents relating to people’s mental capacity required update and the registered manager had contacted relevant parties to start this process. The service had plans and guidance to support people with identified risks. Care was person centred and promoted choice and independence. People were supported to achieve positive outcomes. People were supported by staff who received an induction and ongoing training.

Right Care:

People received kind and compassionate care. Feedback from people and their relatives was all positive. Some relatives told us staffing had improved and people had more consistent staff teams. Staff knew people well, understood and responded to their individual needs. Staff promoted and respected people's right to privacy, dignity, and respect. Staff knew how to protect people from the risk of harm and abuse. People were fully supported to live a life of their choosing and to increase their independence.

Right Culture:

The registered manager listened to concerns and promoted a positive culture that was person-centred, open, and inclusive. Concerns and complaints were listened and responded to. Staff were supported and given opportunities to feedback about the service. Quality assurance processes enabled continuous improvement. As the registered manager had not been in post long some systems and processes were still in development, but plans were in place and being acted on. There was a learning culture and learning was shared. There was good communication with partner agencies to support people’s health and wellbeing.

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 6 March 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was based on the length of times since we last inspected.

We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key question not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Deaconstar Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation in the safe key question in relation to medicines management. Please see this section for further details.

Follow Up

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