Archived: Voyage (DCA) Maltby

Voyage (DCA) Maltby is a domiciliary care agency proving care and support to people in supported living schemes and in their own homes in the community. The service provides support to predominantly younger adults with learning disabilities.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

On the day of our inspection 26 people were using the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us they were safe. Relatives we spoke with told us staff ensured people were safe. Staff we spoke with understood safeguarding procedures and how to whistle blow if required to ensure any safeguarding concerns were reported. The registered manager monitored accidents and incidents to try to ensure lessons learnt. People were protected by the prevention and control of infection.

Risks were managed to enable people to be as independent as possible. Medication systems were in place and followed by staff to ensure people received their medicines as prescribed.

We found adequate staff were provided to meet people’s needs. However, in one scheme people and staff told us there were not enough commissioned hours to meet all peoples needs. The registered manager was working with the placing authority to try to resolve this.

The staff recruitment process was robust to ensure only staff suitable to work with vulnerable adults were employed.

Staff were knowledgeable about people needs, care was person-centred and individualised. Staff received training that enabled them to do their job. Staff received supervision and support.

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.

People who required assistance were supported to be able to receive a balanced diet. People had access to health care professionals.

Staff were kind and caring and maintained people's privacy and dignity. People told us the staff were lovely. People were involved in their care planning to ensure their decisions and choices were reflected.

Staff, people who used the service and health care professionals we spoke with told us the communication was good. Staff told us they worked well as a team and supported each other.

People told us they were supported by the same group of staff, which ensured consistency. There were some changes in one team but this was not impacting on people who used the service.

The service had a registered manager who conducted a range of audits in areas such as, medicine management, health and safety, care plans and daily records documentation. We found the monitoring was effective.

More information in Detailed Findings below:

Rating at last inspection:

At the last inspection the service was rated Good (report published 23 February 2017).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow Up:

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner

The inspection took place on 10 and 18 January 2017 with the provider being given short notice of the visit to the office in line with our current methodology for inspecting domiciliary care agencies. The service was re-registered with the Commission in June 2016 as the provider changed the company name, so this was the first inspection of the service under the new registration.

Voyage (DCA) Maltby provides personal care to people living in supported living and also provides care and support to people living with family in their own homes. Its office is based near the centre of Rotherham. The agency supports people with a learning disability.

The service did not have a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. However, the manager in post had submitted the application to the Care Quality Commission to become the registered manager and this was being processed. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

At the time of our inspection there were 25 people using the service. People we spoke with told us they were very happy with the care and support they received.

We saw there were systems in place to protect people from the risk of harm. Staff we spoke with were knowledgeable about safeguarding people and were able to explain the procedures to follow should an allegation of abuse be made.

We found predominantly the service employed enough staff to meet the needs of the people being supported. Staff had completed training to be able to meet people’s needs, and received regular supervision, which meant they were well supported. Staff also had an annual appraisal of their work.

We found people received a service that was based on their personal needs and wishes. Their needs had been assessed before their care package commenced and where possible they, and their relatives, had been involved in formulating their care plans. Care records sampled identified people’s needs and preferences, as well as any risks associated with their care and the environment they lived in.

Where people needed assistance taking their medication this was administered in a timely way by staff who had been trained to carry out this role. However, more staff required training to be able to administer medications and meet people’s needs.

We found the service to be meeting the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). The management team had a good understanding and knowledge of this topic. However staff told us they required more training to fully understand the legislation and how it impacted on people they supported.

People were provided with information about how to raise a concern and how it would be addressed. The people we spoke with told us they were confident that any concerns they raised would be dealt with promptly. The provider had learnt lessons from previous concerns and complaints and had improved systems and support.

There were systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided. The management team were fairly new and were implementing new systems at the time of our inspection, to ensure all areas for improvement were identified and addressed in a timely way. These systems needed to be fully implemented and embedded into practice.