Dynamic Support

Updated 22 February 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 1 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 2 ‘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. This service is also a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats and specialist housing.

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

We gave a short period notice of the inspection because some of the people using it could not consent to a home visit from an inspector. This meant that we had to arrange for a ‘best interest’ decision about this.

The inspection activity started on 17 January 2023 and ended on 20 January 2023. We visited the location’s office/service on 17 January 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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 met 3 people who lived in supported living housing. Not all people could use words to tell us about their experience, so we observed interactions between people using the service and staff. We spoke with the registered manager, the deputy manager and 2 staff members. We reviewed care records for 4 people, including risk assessments, and 4 staff files in relation to recruitment. We also reviewed a range of management records concerning staff training, quality audits, medicines, and service user feedback. After the inspection we spoke with 2 people and 6 people’s relatives. We contacted 22 members of staff to obtain their opinion on the quality of care provided to people.

Updated 22 February 2023

About the service

Dynamic Support is a domiciliary care and supported living agency. It provides personal care to any adults who require care and support in their own houses and flats in the community. 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. In addition, this service provides support to 14 people living in 2 'supported living' settings, so that they can live in their own home as independently as possible.

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 assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Right Support:

Staff helped people access health and social care support in the community. They assisted people to enable them to maintain their own health and wellbeing where possible. Staff communicated with people in ways that met their needs. The service gave people care and support in a safe environment.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff provided them with care in the least restrictive way possible. The policies and systems in the service promoted this practice.

Right Care:

People's needs were appropriately assessed before they moved to the service. The service worked together with healthcare professionals and relatives to ensure people's needs could be met. People were supported with nutrition and hydration. Care was person-centred and promoted people's dignity, privacy, and human rights. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. Staff were appropriately trained on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to report safeguarding concerns. Relatives of people told us their loved ones were safe living at the service. Care records contained risk assessments with clear guidance for staff to follow. Medicines were managed safely. Staff were recruited safely. The premises were clean and well maintained.

Right Culture:

The registered manager promoted a person-centred environment and people experienced good outcomes. Relatives spoke positively about the management team and staff. People received good quality care and support because staff were trained to meet peoples needs and wishes

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 2 October 2019).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part by notification of an incident in which a person using the service was potentially subjected to serious abuse. This incident is subject to a criminal investigation and as a result this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident. However, the information shared with CQC about the incident indicated potential concerns about the risk of unsafe care and treatment. This inspection examined those risks.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well led sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Dynamic Support on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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