Happy Dayz Domiciliary Care Ltd

Updated 25 October 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. 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

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

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. This is a single location provider and the registered manager is also the provider, we have therefore referred to the registered manager throughout this report.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small, and the registered manager is often out, and we wanted to be sure they would be available to speak to us. Inspection activity started on 24 September and ended on 30 September. We visited the office location on 25 September 2019.

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. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the relatives of two people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four members of staff including the registered manager and three care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and recruitment documents.

Updated 25 October 2019

About the service

Happy Dayz is a domiciliary care agency providing support and personal care to young adults and children with a range of physical and mental health needs, including autism spectrum disorder, physical disabilities, learning disabilities and sensory impairment. The service supports young people and children living at home with their family. The service has recently updated their care services, so they could also provide care for older people. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting four children or young people.

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

The registered manager had made improvements to the safety of the service to ensure staff had the skills and competence to carry out their role. Relatives of the people supported by the service told us people were safely cared for by competent staff. Staff were recruited safely however, we have made a recommendation about the application of the Equality Act (2010) in recruitment processes. Staff understood their responsibility to safeguard people from abuse and the service supported people to understand risks to their safety and wellbeing. Risk assessments were in place which guided staff on safe practice in meeting people’s needs. Staff used protective equipment to prevent the spread of infections.

The registered manager had made improvements to the training and induction of staff. Training was completed within timescales to support staff to care for people safely and effectively. This included training to meet the specific needs of the people supported. Relatives told us staff provided appropriate support with eating and drinking. The service worked with relatives and other agencies to ensure people’s needs were met. Needs assessments were carried out to develop person centred plans for care and support. 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 told us staff were kind and caring. People were involved in decisions about their care including a choice of the staff who supported them. Staff knew how to provide respectful and dignified care and relatives confirmed this was carried out in practice.

Care plans were person centred and developed with people and their relatives. The service used a range of methods to meet the communication needs of the people they supported. No complaints had been received by the service and relatives told us their concerns were acted on promptly and to their satisfaction by the registered manager. No one was receiving end of life care at the time of our inspection. Guidance was available for staff to follow, should this be required.

Relatives and staff spoke positively about the registered manager and their leadership of the service. Improvements had been made to the service since our previous inspection, in line with the action plan submitted by the registered manager at that time. The registered manager was not aware of the Duty of Candour and we have made a recommendation about this. Whilst the regulations had been met, we noted the registered manager needed to improve their knowledge of some regulatory requirements, which we have referred to in this report. We received very positive feedback about the service from the relatives we spoke with, consistent with feedback received by the service.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was Requires Improvement (published 10 August 2018) and there were two breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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

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.