22 June 2023
During an inspection looking at part of the service
In Home Care Dacorum is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to younger and older people. Some people were living with dementia or had other health conditions they required support with. At the time of our inspection there were 17 people using the service.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. The service was supporting 12 people with personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People told us they felt safe and were well supported by staff. This was echoed by their relatives. People were safe as staff had received training in safeguarding adults and had a good understanding of the signs of abuse. Staff knew how to report concerns both internally and external to the organisation and were confident to do so.
People received their medicines correctly and on time. Staff worked with the local health professionals and pharmacies to ensure people had the right medicine, equipment and health support at the right times.
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. Staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act and how to support people to make decisions or report concerns of capacity where people's abilities had changed.
Staff supported people to have enough to eat and drink and to access a range of health professionals as they required it. People who needed specialist diets due to allergies or swallowing difficulties had risk assessments in place and this was clearly highlighted in their care plans.
People told us staff were kind and caring and never rushed them. People and relatives felt staff were well trained and efficient. Staff supported people to review their care needs regularly involving their relatives and health professionals as requested. People were supported to receive care that was in line with their preferred methods and needs, taking into account their abilities and cultural sensitivities.
People told us the registered manager responded to complaints quickly and effectively and ensured the same issues did not reoccur.
The registered manager encouraged people to give feedback on the service and suggest ideas for improvements. The registered manager had created an open, person centred culture and had a clear vision of high-quality personalised care that was shared by the staff team and experienced by people receiving care.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
This service was registered with us on 11 February 2022 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.
This was an ‘inspection using remote technology’. This means we did not visit the office location and instead used technology such as electronic file sharing to gather information, and video and phone calls to engage with people using the service as part of this performance review and assessment.