We carried out a review of the data available to us about Voyage (DCA) North West Chase on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Voyage (DCA) North West Chase, you can give feedback on this service.
Voyage (DCA) Staffordshire is a care at home service providing personal care to 26 adults at the time of the inspection. The service supported people with mental and physical health needs and learning disabilities in their own homes (some which were supported living sites) across Staffordshire.
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
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.
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, 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 providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.
The service was able to demonstrate how they were applying the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. The service was able to demonstrate how people’s independence and rights were promoted in a way that allowed them to take risks when considering their safety. The ethos of the service supported staff to have the values, attitudes and behaviours that would ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.
People were seen to be comfortable and relaxed in the presence of staff and were supported by knowledgeable staff who knew their needs and preferences. We saw there were warm and friendly interactions between staff and people and they were seen to be supported in a safe, but not restrictive way.
Staff were knowledgeable as to what to do if they had any concerns in respect of abuse and how to report this. People had comprehensive risk assessments in place which gave clear guidance for staff, and they were aware of this guidance. People received their medicines as prescribed by trained staff. There were enough safely recruited staff to ensure people were able to access daily living opportunities of their choice in their homes or community safely. This meant people were supported in a safe way.
The provider and registered manager regularly reviewed the quality of the service and was able to show us improvements that they had made following incidents, this to ensure the safety of the service was improved.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection - The last rating for this service was good (published 07 August 2019).
Why we inspected - The inspection was prompted in part by notification of a specific incident. Following which a person using the service died. This incident is subject to investigation by other agencies. As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident. Dependent on the findings of other agencies CQC may review the circumstances of the incident under a separate specific incident process.
The information CQC received about the incident indicated concerns about the management of people’s health conditions where there was potential for these to present a serious risk. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only, this to identify that people who currently used the service were safe.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well led sections of this full report.
The overall rating for the service has remained the same. This is based on the findings at this inspection. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Voyage (DCA) Staffordshire on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.
Voyage (DCA) Staffordshire is a care at home service providing personal and nursing care to 19 people aged 18 and over at the time of the inspection. The service supported people across seven supported living houses across Staffordshire and Wolverhampton some of whom were living with mental and physical health needs and learning disabilities.
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 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.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were supported by staff who were knowledgeable about the types of abuse and had received training in safeguarding. People had comprehensive risk assessments in place which gave clear guidance for staff. People received their medicines as prescribed by trained staff. This meant people were supported in a safe way.
People had access to health and social care professionals where required in a timely way. People were supported by staff to maintain a balanced diet. 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 were supported to access the community and pursue their hobbies and interests by a flexible staff team who knew them well. People were supported by kind and compassionate staff who encouraged their independence.
People felt able to raise concerns and complaints were managed in line with the provider’s policy. The management team reviewed accidents and incidents to reduce the risk of reoccurrence. This meant lessons were learned when things went wrong.
The management team regularly reviewed the quality of the service alongside people, their relatives and staff and actions were taken to improve people’s care where required. This meant the provider continuously looked to improve the service in response to people’s feedback.
The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.
The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.
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)
The last rating for this service was good (published 27 July 2016).
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.
There was a registered manager in the service. 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.
We inspected this service as we had received concerns from the local authority about the safety of some people who used the service. The provider was working with the local authority and community intervention team to support people to keep safe and to help people to manage their complex behaviour. People felt safe with staff members who had received further training to understand how to recognise and protect them from abuse and harm. When staff suspected any abuse, they now knew how to act to ensure people were protected from further harm.
People kept their medicines in their apartment and were helped to understand what their medicines were for and to take responsibility for them. Staff knew why people needed medicines and when these should be taken.
Staffing was organised flexibly to enable people to be involved with activities and do the things they enjoyed. People could choose to be involved with a variety of activities. People made decisions about their care and staff helped them to understand the information they needed to make informed decisions. Staff sought people’s consent before they provided care and they were helped to make decisions which were in their best interests. People were supported to keep healthy and well and were able to promptly access healthcare services when this was needed.
People were treated with kindness, compassion and respect and staff promoted people’s independence. People liked the staff who supported them and had developed good relationships with them. People maintained relationships with their families and friends who were invited to join in activities with them. Staff listened to people’s views about their care and people were able to influence the development of the service. People knew how to complain about their care and concerns were responded to.
There were processes to monitor the quality of the service provided and understand the experiences of people who used the service and plan on-going improvements. People who used the service and staff felt involved and able to make suggestions to support the development of on-going improvements.