Background to this inspection
Updated
22 June 2023
The inspection
We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.
Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people using the service and staff.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
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 24 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
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.
We used information we held about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority who work with the service. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location’s office. We used technology such as phone calls to enable us to engage with people using the service and staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation. We spoke with 2 relatives and 4 staff, including care staff and the registered manager. We also spoke to 2 external professionals who work with the service. We looked at 2 care records and a range of records relating to the management of the service.
Updated
22 June 2023
About the service
Wasdale Resource Centre is a domiciliary care agency, providing personal care to people in their own houses and flats. At the time of the inspection there were 2 young 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.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.
Right Support
People were protected from the risk of abuse. Risks to people were assessed and mitigated to enable staff to provide safe support. Where people required support to manage incidents of emotional distress, clear guidelines were in place and staff were knowledgeable about how to support people at these times. People received support from a core team of staff who knew them well. Staff were trained and attended calls at the allocated times. Staff were recruited safely, and pre-employment checks were in place. At the time of the inspection no one was receiving support with medicines, staff training was available should medicines management be required in the future.
Right Care
Peoples needs and choices were assessed, and care plans were person centred. Staff supported people to achieve their goals and people’s equality and diversity was explored at pre assessment stages and through regular contact with relatives. People were treated with dignity and respect. Staff completed daily records which were detailed and reflected how care was individualised and provided for people. Relatives told us staff were kind and caring.
Right Culture
Quality audits were undertaken by a senior management team. Governance could be improved by ensuring all accidents and incidents were effectively monitored, with lessons learned from these. The service worked closely with external professionals to ensure support was provided in a way which was safe, individualised and in line with people's best interests. Relatives, external professionals and staff were extremely positive about how the service was managed and the staff team. The management team were open and honest and understood their roles in relation to duty of candour.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
This service was registered with us on 3 March 2022, and this is the first inspection.
Recommendations
We have made a recommendation that the management team review their systems for reporting, analysing and learning lessons from accidents and incidents.
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 phone calls to engage with people using the service as part of this performance review and assessment.