DICE Healthcare Limited

Updated 7 November 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of two inspectors and one 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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was to enable the provider or registered manager to be in to support the inspection. During the inspection senior members of staff were available to support the inspection process whilst the registered manager and service manager attended a pre-arranged external meeting.

What we did before the inspection

Prior to the inspection we looked at all of the information we held about the service. This included any feedback and statutory notifications which the provider is required to send to us by law. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

To understand people’s experience of the service we spoke with seven people who used the service and six relatives on the telephone. We also spoke with seven staff members. These included one care support worker, two team leaders, the client and staff liaison lead, the service manager and both of the directors; one of which was the registered manager and nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We visited the office where the service is run from and looked at a number of records. These included, three care files, two staff files and records relating to the operation and oversight of the service.

After the inspection

We continued to receive information from the provider to support the evidence found.

Updated 7 November 2019

About the service

DICE Healthcare Limited is a domiciliary care service which at the time of the inspection was providing personal care for 52 people in their own homes.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People told us they felt safe receiving care from the service, staff understood how to deal with allegations of abuse. The registered manager told us about the actions they took to ensure all staff were recruited safely. Staff had undertaken medicines training, records we looked at confirmed this. The registered manager confirmed the actions taken to investigate a missed medicines administration.

Infection control systems were in place. People were supported with their dietary needs. Consent to care and treatment was recorded. 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. The registered manager confirmed capacity assessments would be undertaken for all people where required.

People received good care. People told us they were treated with dignity and respect and their privacy was maintained. Care plans contained information about how to support people’s needs. Staff supported people to take part in a range of activities in their local community.

Systems were in place to investigate and act on complaints. A range of team meetings were taking place. Positive feedback was received about the leadership and management and the support provided to staff and people who used the service.

We made recommendations in relation to recruitment, medicines administration, the completion of capacity assessments the recording of audits and monitoring completed visits.

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 17 February 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for DICE Healthcare Limited 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.