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Darlington Extra Care Services

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Rosemary Court, Blackton Grove, Darlington, DL1 4UB (01325) 354193

Provided and run by:
Making Space

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 24 January 2024

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 and an 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 to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is rented and is the occupant’s own home. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people’s personal care service.

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. The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission.

Notice of inspection

The inspection was announced. We gave a short period notice of the inspection to ensure the manager was on site and so people could consent to phone calls.

Inspection activity started on 14 December with calls to relatives and people who use the service and ended on 18 December 2023. We visited the office location on 18 December 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. 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 this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 3 people who used the service and 9 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with and received feedback from 16 members of staff including the registered manager, office administrator, care workers and 4 healthcare professionals.

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

After the inspection

Following our visit we continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We also looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 24 January 2024

About the service

Darlington Extra Care Services is an extra care agency providing care and support to older people in their own flats across 4 different sites. Some people who receive support may be living with dementia or have physical disabilities. The service supported 138 people at the time of the inspection. 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.

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

Overall people shared positive feedback with us about their experience of Darlington Extra Care Services. They felt the staff enabled them to keep safe. Healthcare professionals also shared feedback regarding partnership working and positive working relationships.

Accidents and incidents were managed and recorded effectively. Recruitment was carried out effectively with the right safety checks and records in place.

Staff training was up to date and staff also received regular supervision and appraisals to ensure their development and practice was meeting people’s needs.

Risk assessments and relevant care plans were improved to ensure all the details needed to manage risk and support people safely was current. Care plans were person-centred and ensured people’s preferences were clear to guide staff on how to meet people’s individual needs.

Audits carried out by the registered manager and provider were addressing concerns to manage risk and improve the quality of care provided.

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.

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 good (published 19 February 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service and due to the length of time since the previous inspection. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Darlington Extra Care Services 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.