Archived: The Bungalow (DCC Homecare Service)

The Bungalow (DCC Homecare Service) provides domiciliary care to up to six adults with learning disabilities in supported living accommodation in two community properties. Although six people lived in the accommodation the service was only providing personal care to five people when we inspected.

There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The registered manager oversaw the running of the full service and was supported by a unit manager and a deputy manager. The deputy manager oversaw the day to day management of the service and we refer to them as ‘the manager’ in this report.

People were kept safe by staff who understood their responsibilities to protect them. Each person had a key worker who supported them to make choices about their care and what they wanted to achieve. They planned their week to make sure they pursued their interests and did the activities that they liked. They had care plans in place to support this and they were involved in reviewing these regularly.

We saw that there were enough staff to support people and that those staff had been recruited following procedures to check that they were safe to work with people. They received training and support to ensure that they could support people well. We saw that they had positive relationships with people and that they used specialist equipment to assist people to make choices about their care. People were supported to make their own decisions about their care and support.

Risks to people’s health and wellbeing were assessed and actions were put in place to reduce them so that people could lead as independent lives as possible. Medicines were given to people safely and records were well maintained and managed. Staff supported people to maintain their health and to participate in managing their own wellbeing. We saw that people chose their own food and drink and were supported to prepare this themselves.

The manager was approachable and listened to people. There were a range of systems to monitor and improve the quality of the service. This included responding to complaints and implementing actions from them.

We spoke with two people using the service and two relatives who told us people were supported by care workers who they knew. We saw there were arrangements in place for medicines and for diet and nutrition. We saw people were provided with a choice of suitable and nutritious food and drink.

We found appropriate arrangements were in place in relation to obtaining and providing people with their prescribed medicines.

As part of the quality review family representatives told us they could approach care workers and knew they would be listened to. They told us they were satisfied with the service provided.

The person using the service told us they were happy with the support they received from staff. Comments included, 'staff are brilliant, if I have a problem there is always someone to talk to'. They told us they had a copy of their support plans in their home and confirmed they were involved in regular reviews and discussions about their care; the information seen in support records demonstrated this.

Family members we spoke to were very positive about the support provided by the staff team and confirmed they were involved in reviews of their relatives care.

People's method of communication was recorded in their support plans. This ensured staff could support people according to their preference and choice. Information in records demonstrated that staff were committed to promoting independence and choice by working with and involving individuals in decisions on a day to day basis.

Discussions with staff demonstrated that they had a good understanding of people's support needs.

Staff were provided with ongoing training and support, to enable them to carry out their work effectively.

Systems were in place to monitor the support and services provided, and to identify and manage risks to ensure the service was run safely.