Archived: South Essex Domiciliary Care

Updated 22 December 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on the 23 and 25 November 2016 and was announced. We did this to ensure the registered manager was available to assist us with the inspection. The inspection was completed by one inspector.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included the last inspection report and statutory notifications we had received about the service. Notifications are changes, events or incidents that the provider is legally obliged to send us. We also reviewed a Provider Information Return (PIR). A PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We spoke with nine people who used the service; some people were not verbally able to talk with us so we used observation as our main tool to gain insight of their experiences. We also spoke with 15 members of care staff, two deputy operational managers and the registered manager. We reviewed six people’s care files, five staff recruitment and support files, training records and quality assurance information.

Updated 22 December 2016

The service had a registered manager. 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 was supported by two deputy operational managers to ensure the daily management of the service.

People were protected from risks to their health and wellbeing and were protected from the risk of abuse. The registered provider had effective recruitment processes in place which ensured people were protected from the risk of avoidable harm. Accidents and incidents were recorded and monitored to identify and mitigate reoccurrence. Medication was dispensed by staff who had received training to do so.

Staff demonstrated that they knew people well. They had received regular training and supervision and were knowledgeable about their roles and responsibilities. Care plans were person centred, included people's preferences and routines and were regularly reviewed.

People told us staff were kind and caring, they were happy with the care and support they received and that they were treated with dignity and respect. Staff were responsive to the needs of people and enabled them to maintain their independence as much as they were able. People were supported to access health and social care professionals and services when required.

Staff demonstrated an understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005). People’s capacity to consent had been assessed and the registered provider acted in accordance with its legal responsibilities under the MCA.

Staff felt valued by management and worked together effectively as a team. There were effective quality assurance systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and to help ensure the service was running effectively, meeting people’s individual needs and working towards continuous improvement.