Archived: Making Space (Warrington) Domiciliary Care Agency

Updated 22 December 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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 19th October 2015 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the provider offered an outreach domiciliary care service and supported living for adults who are often out during the day; we needed to be sure someone would be in. We also needed to ensure staff would be available in the main Making Space office.

The inspection was undertaken by one adult social care inspector.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service including notifications and information received from members of the public. We also invited the local authority to provide us with any information they held about Making Space (Warrington) DCA. We used this information to help to plan our inspection.

We used a number of different methods to help us understand the experiences of people who used the service. We visited one person in their home. We spoke with three care support staff and the registered manager. We also spoke with three health and social care professionals during our inspection.

We looked at one person’s care records and a variety of documents which related to the management of the service.

Updated 22 December 2015

The inspection took place on 19th October and was announced. We visited Making Space offices in Runcorn and visited people who used the service in their own homes in Warrington. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice of the inspection because the location provided a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone was available in the office as well as giving notice to people who used the service that we would like to visit them at home. We previously inspected the service in September 2013 when we found they were meeting all the regulations we looked at.

Making Space (Warrington) Domiciliary Care service is owned and managed by Making Space. The service provided care, support and enablement services for people who suffer or have suffered from a mental illness. The services are provided to people who reside in supported tenancies or within their own homes and are tailored to assist and encourage people to gain confidence in respect of their daily living skills. However, the supported tenancy scheme is not required to be registered with the Care Quality Commission and the inspection therefore focused on the services provided to people who lived in their own homes. The office is situated in Runcorn. At the time of our inspection two people were using the domiciliary care service.

The service had a registered manager who had been in post since March 2012. 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.

On the day of our inspection we found the service to be safe as it had systems in place to safeguard people from harm. We spoke with knowledgeable staff who could tell us the signs of abuse and what they would do if they suspected any form of abuse occurring. Risks to people were managed well to give people freedom, whilst keeping them safe.

The service had a robust recruitment process in place and used a matching process to ensure that there was compatibility between people and the staff who provided them with support. We found staff to have received an appropriate induction, supervision, appraisal and training which allowed them to fulfil their roles to their maximum potential.

Staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and the process in place if there was a deprivation issue. People who used the service and those who commissioned these services spoke highly of the staff who provided the service and said it was carried out to a very high standard. Staff presented as encouraging people who used the service to make decisions and choice in their lives to maximise their independence and enhance their life skills.

The service was well led and run in the best interests of the people who used it.