Background to this inspection
Updated
21 December 2022
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 was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own houses and flats and specialist housing. The service currently provides care and support to people living in a supported living setting, 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.
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 not a registered manager in post. A new manager had submitted an application to register with us. We are currently assessing this application.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 14 November 2022 and ended on 25 November 2022. We visited the location’s office/service on 14 November and 18 November 2022.
What we did before the inspection
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 three people who use the service and spoke with three relatives about their experience of the care provided. One person chose not to speak with us. We spent time observing people including their interactions with staff.
We spoke with and received feedback from eight members of staff including the service manager, area manager, director, support workers and nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We sought feedback from health and social care professionals who work with the service.
We reviewed a range of records. This included three people's care records and medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment, induction and training. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
Updated
21 December 2022
About the service
Potens Dorset Domiciliary Care Agency provides personal care to three people in a supported living setting so that they can live in their own home as independently as possible. At the time of our inspection there were three people using the service. All three people were receiving a regulated activity of personal care.
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
The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of right support, right care, right culture.
Right Support
People were supported by staff to pursue their interests. Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community when required.
The service worked with people to plan for when they experienced periods of distress so that their freedoms were restricted only if there was no alternative to keep them and others safe.
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.
Right Care
Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse.
The service had enough appropriately skilled and knowledgeable staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe.
Staff, people and their relatives worked together to assess risks people might face. Where appropriate, staff encouraged and enabled people to take positive risks.
Right Culture
People and those important to them were involved in planning their care.
Staff knew and understood people well and were responsive. This supported people’s aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing.
Staff evaluated the quality of support provided to people, involving the person, their families and other professionals as appropriate.
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 13 February 2018).
Why we inspected
We undertook a focused inspection to check improvements had been made to people’s care plans and the complaints procedure had been shared with people in a format they could understand. We also wanted to assure ourselves about the management structure and oversight of the service given there is no registered manager. We reviewed the key questions of safe, responsive and well-led only.
No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Potens Dorset Domiciliary Care Agency 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.