Archived: DT Careplus

Updated 27 July 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 14 may 2015 and it was conducted by one inspector. We gave 48 hours’ notice of the inspection because we needed to be sure that there would be someone in the office.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also reviewed information we held about the service, including the notifications they had sent us. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send to us.

During the office visit, we spoke with the provider and two care staff. We were unable to speak with both people who used the service because they were under the age of 18. Also, their complex needs meant that they were not able to tell us their experiences of the care provided to them. However, we spoke with their relatives by telephone on 19 May 2015. We also spoke with the relative of a young person who had recently used the service and a social worker who was involved in one of the young people’s care.

We looked at the care records for both people who used the service, the recruitment records for three staff and supervision records for two staff. We also looked at the training records for all the staff employed by the service and information on how the provider assessed and monitored the quality of the service.

Updated 27 July 2015

We carried out this announced inspection by visiting the office on 14 May 2015. Between this date and 19 May 2015, we spoke with the relatives of the two young people who used the service and a relative of a young person who had recently been supported by the service.

At the time of the inspection, the service provided care and support to two young people under the age of 18 in their own homes. They were living with a variety of needs including learning disabilities, physical disabilities and autistic spectrum conditions. Shortly after our visit, the provider changed the conditions of their registration so that they could also provide care to adults in the future.

The service has a registered manager, who is also the provider of the service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

There were risk assessments in place that gave guidance to staff on how risks to people could be minimised. There were systems in place to safeguard people from the risk of possible harm.

The provider had effective recruitment processes in place and there were sufficient staff to support people safely. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities to seek people’s consent prior to care being provided.

Staff received supervision and support, and had been trained to meet people’s individual needs.

People were supported by caring and respectful staff. They were supported to pursue their hobbies and interests.

People’s needs had been assessed, and care plans took account of their individual needs, preferences, and choices.

The provider had a formal process for handling complaints and concerns. They encouraged feedback from people and acted on the comments received to improve the quality of the service.

The provider had effective quality monitoring processes in place.