Background to this inspection
Updated
15 June 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:
The inspection team consisted of one adult social care inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has direct or personal experience with care services.
Service and service type: This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living with a learning disability in their own homes in the community.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection:
We gave the service two days’ notice of the inspection site visit because we wanted to ensure there would be someone in the office.
We visited the office location on 13 May 2019 to see the registered manager, speak with staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. The next day we undertook phone calls to speak with people who used the service and their relatives.
What we did:
The registered manager sent us a provider information return (PIR). This is a document completed by the registered manager which contains information on how the service is developing and any planned improvements.
As part of the inspection we spoke with two people in their own homes who received care from the service and two further people. We spoke with the registered manager and six members of care, support and administration staff. We looked at three people’s care records and looked at three staff files including training and recruitment. We reviewed the service’s accidents and incidents, audits and complaints policies. We also saw recent positive feedback from health professionals.
Updated
15 June 2019
About the service: The DOVE Project is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people with a learning disability who live in their own homes. The service provides individual packages of care ranging from a few hours to 24 hours a day support. The DOVE Project had recently merged two service locations and was providing personal care support to 30 people at the time of the inspection.
People, relatives, staff and external healthcare professionals spoke highly of The DOVE Project. The service had strong person-centred values and placed people at the heart of their work. People had access to a stable staff team they knew well and achieved positive outcomes and strong relationships.
People were fully involved in their care and their wishes respected. One person said, “Staff are very much on time. It’s plenty of time, I wouldn’t mind having more [because they are nice]. They help me do anything I want to do”. People’s views were sought and their consent was always gained before any care took place. People were offered as many choices as possible in ways which met their individual needs. For example, by using pictures and objects of reference.
People’s care plans contained personalised information which detailed how they wanted their care to be delivered. Staff knew people very well and expressed care and affection for them when speaking with us.
Staff were highly valued and supported by The DOVE Project and the registered manager. All staff we spoke with were proud to work for the service and praised the high standards of care expected. Staff comments included, “People have a good life and that’s what we are here for.”
Risks to people’s health, safety and wellbeing were assessed and management plans were put in place to ensure these were reduced as much as possible.
People were protected from potential abuse by staff who had received training and were confident in raising concerns. There was a thorough recruitment process in place that checked potential staff were safe to work with people who may be vulnerable.
There was strong leadership at the service and people, relatives and staff spoke highly of the registered manager. There was a positive culture at the service and staff felt their voices were listened to.
People were supported by kind and caring staff who worked hard to promote their independence and sense of wellbeing. We were given examples of the staff going above and beyond for people. For example, helping them access new opportunities and helping them move house.
Staff were provided with the training, supervision and support they needed to care for people well.
The registered manager was passionate about improving the service and had plans for future projects to benefit people. There were quality assurance systems in place to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service provided.
The registered manager and their team were committed to delivering high quality and safe care to people and involving them in the planning of their care and the running of the service.
More information is in the full report
Rating at last inspection: This service was last inspected on 12 and 16 March 2018 where it was rated requires improvement overall. The areas of effective, responsive and well led required improvement. In June 2017 Selborne Care Limited was purchased by Care Tech, with a new manager registered with the Care Quality Commission in June 2018. During this inspection in 2019 we found these areas had been fully addressed and the service had improved to good.
Why we inspected: This inspection was scheduled based on the registration date of the service.
Follow up: We will continue to monitor the intelligence we receive about the service.