Background to this inspection
Updated
2 February 2023
Background to this inspection
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 conducted by two inspectors
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
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 a registered manager in post.
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 registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
What we did before the inspection
We used information gathered as part of monitoring activity that took place on 2nd November 2022 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.
During the inspection
We spoke with the registered manager and nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We reviewed a range of records relating to the management of the service including policies and procedures. We also looked at the recruitment records for four staff and the care plans for two people. We spoke to one person who used the service and one relative.
Updated
2 February 2023
Overall summary
About the service
Delta Healthcare Group Limited is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people in their own home. The service provides support to those with dementia, mental health, learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder, people with physical disabilities and sensory impairment. At the time of our visit the service was providing regulated activity to two people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People who used the service were not always protected from abuse and harm. The systems in place did not adopt control measures to ensure the risks were as low as possible. Care workers were not trained in the safe administration of medication and no competency assessments had taken place. However, care staff understood the risks to people and delivered safe care. There were enough care workers deployed to meet the needs of people. Care workers understood their responsibilities and could recognise and report abuse.
The provider did not operate effective systems to monitor and improve the quality of the service. Managers could not respond appropriately where quality and safety were being compromised and improvements could not be made.
Initial assessments for people formed part of a robust care plan which aimed to meet their needs. There was a plan in place to ensure care workers received training. However, this was not followed and there were no certificates in place. We saw records confirming that supervision and support were being provided by the registered manager.
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.
People using the service and their relatives liked the staff who supported them. They were happy with the care and support they received and felt they had a say in how it was provided. One relative said, “The manager calls to ask me about the care and carers, I am happy with my careers, they are kind and I feel they can do the job.”
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at the last inspection
This service was registered with us on 13 December 2021 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
Enforcement
We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment, good governance and staffing at this inspection. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report. Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.
Follow up
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.
The overall rating for this service is ‘Requires improvement’.