People in Action Domiciliary Care - Worcester

Updated 21 March 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team: This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type: People in Action Domiciliary Care – Worcester provides care and support to people living in ‘supported living’ settings 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. The service also provides a domiciliary care service for people who required less intensive support.

Not everyone using People in Action Domiciliary Care - Worcester receives a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

At the time of this inspection five people were supported with personal care tasks by the service.

The service had a registered manager. This means that they are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. This person was not present on the day of inspection. Day to day branch matters were managed by a service manager who assisted us on the day of inspection along with a representative of the provider.

Notice of inspection: We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because we needed to be sure that the service manager would be available to support the inspection and for staff to be available to talk with us about the service.

What we did: We reviewed information we had received about the service to plan the inspection. This included details of incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse. Providers are required to send us key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We contacted Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

During the inspection: We met three people who used the service spoke with two of their relatives. We spoke with the provider’s representative, the service manager who had oversight of the branch, the assistant manager of the service and three support workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records, various records related to recruitment, staff training and supervision and the management of the service.

Updated 21 March 2019

About the service: People in Action Domiciliary Care – Worcester provides a service to people with learning disabilities and autism living in their own homes. People’s support is based upon their individual needs and can range from a set number of hours each week to 24-hour care. At the time of this inspection the service was supporting five people with personal care.

People’s experience of using this service: Staff knew how to safeguard people and report suspected abuse. The relatives we spoke with told us they were happy with the support people received. Where incidents had taken place these were analysed, lessons were learnt and embedded into practice. Risks to people were assessed and staff were guided as to the actions to take to minimise the risks identified. Staff received the training they needed to carry out their roles. People were supported with their medicines by trained staff who had been assessed as competent in this area.

At the last inspection of the service the provider had not tested that the actions they had taken, which were in line with the person's best interests, might amount to depriving the person of their liberty. This issue had been addressed at this inspection. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. The service was flexible in meeting people’s needs in an individualised way.

People received a personalised service. The service manager and provider carried out checks and audits and sought feedback to make sure that the service was delivering a high standard of support to people. A system for recording and responding to complaints was in place. The management team worked with other agencies and professionals to support people fully.

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

Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection the service was rated good overall with effective rated as requires improvement (report published July 2016). The overall rating at this inspection remains the same and the effective domain had improved to good.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection to check that the service remained good.

Follow up: We will monitor all intelligence received about the service to inform the assessment of the risk profile of the service and to ensure the next planned inspection is scheduled accordingly.