District Home Care Ltd

Updated 29 June 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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 was a comprehensive inspection.

This inspection took place on 31 May 2018 and was announced. The inspection was carried out by two inspectors.

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

Inspection site visit activity started on 31 May 2018 and ended on the same day having discussions with the registered manager and one member of staff and to review care records and policies and procedures.

Before the inspection we gathered information about the service by contacting the local and placing authorities. In addition, we reviewed records held by CQC which included notifications, complaints and any safeguarding concerns. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. This enabled us to ensure we were addressing potential areas of concern at the inspection.

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 spoke with three people and six relatives as part of our inspection. We spoke with the provider who is also the registered manager and two members of staff during our visit. We also spoke with the local authority safeguarding team and the quality assurance managers. We read care plans for two people, medicines records and the records of accidents and incidents. We looked at mental capacity assessments. We received 11 completed questionnaires from people at the service, six from relatives and three from staff. We looked at two staff recruitment files and training records. We saw records of quality assurance audits. We looked at a selection of policies and procedures.

Updated 29 June 2018

District Home Care is a domiciliary care agency which provides care and support to people in their own homes. It provides a service to older people living with dementia, sensory impairment and physical disabilities. The agency had a total of 14 people who received the regulated activity of personal care.

The inspection took place on 31 May 2018 and was announced. This was the first inspection since the service registered with the Care Quality Commission in April 2017.

People and their relatives told us they felt safe with staff who attended to them because they were kind and caring. Staff were aware of the process to follow and external agencies to contact if they had witnessed any abuse. Robust recruitment processes were followed to help ensure that only suitable people were employed at the agency. Medicines were administered safely and people told us they always received them on time. Measures were in place to monitor and prevent the spread of infection that would affect people’s health. Accidents and incidents were recorded in detail and reviewed by the registered manager to identify any measures that could reduce the risk of a recurrence. These were discussed with staff to make them aware. The registered manager was in the process of recruiting three new staff to add to the team.

People’s needs and choices had been assessed and their care, treatment and support were delivered in line with the pre-admission assessment as discussed with them. People received effective care and support from staff who had received training appropriate to their roles. People were supported to have enough to eat and drink to keep them stay healthy and they had access to all healthcare professionals as and when required. People’s rights under the mental capacity act (MCA) were respected.

People were treated with kindness and compassion in their day-to-day care from caring and supportive staff that had got to know them well. People were supported to express their views and were involved in making decisions about their care, support and treatment. People’s privacy and dignity was respected by staff and they were encouraged to be as independent as they were able. The registered manager and staff told us that they treated all people as individuals and their individuality was respected.

People had person centred care plans that had been developed with them from the information provided in the pre-admissions assessment. People told us they had been involved with their care plans. People knew how to make a complaint and who to make a complaint to and complaints were taken seriously and used as an opportunity to improve the service. The provider would work with the appropriate agencies to ensure that end of life care was provided sensitively and in line with people’s needs and preferences.

People, relatives and staff benefited from a well-managed service. The provider and staff worked together to ensure that all aspects of the service functioned effectively. Quality assurance systems were in place to ensure that the quality and of service provided to people was of a good sustained standard. People and those important to them had opportunities to feedback their views about the home. The provider and staff worked with other related agencies that ensured people received joined up care, treatment and support. The service was supported with other healthcare professional services to ensure people’s health needs were met.