Domiciliary Support Team

Domiciliary Support Team is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care

to people with learning disabilities, mental health and autism, who live in their own homes and in seven supported living settings. At the time of the inspection the service was providing support to six people in their own homes and twenty-nine people in seven supported living settings.

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

There were quality assurance systems in place to monitor the safety and quality of care provided. These systems needed to improve, to ensure risk assessments and care plans provided staff with accurate and up to date guidance.

Three safeguarding incidents reported to the local authority had not been notified to CQC. This is a legal requirement.

We received positive feedback from people and their relatives about the care provided. They told us care was person centred, people were treated with dignity and respect and staff were kind and caring.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of right support, right care and right culture.

Right Support

The service gave people care and support in a safe, clean, well equipped, well-furnished and well-maintained environment that met their sensory and physical needs. People were supported by staff to pursue their interests.

Right Care

Staff promoted equality and diversity in their support for people. They understood people’s cultural needs and provided culturally appropriate care. People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs. The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe.

Right culture

Staff knew and understood people well and were responsive, supporting their aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing. People and those important to them, including advocates, were involved in planning their care. Staff ensured risks of a closed culture were minimised so that people received support based on transparency, respect and inclusivity.

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

Rating at last inspection

Since the last inspection the provider's registration has changed as they had moved premises. The last rating for the service under the provider's previous registration was Good (published on 2 May 2019).

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of Right support right care right culture.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have identified a breach in relation to good governance. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

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.

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.