Dynamic People Homecare Services

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people who live in their own homes. It provides a service to older people and those who may live with dementia, mental health conditions, physical disability and sensory impairment.

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. At the time of our inspection the service was providing support to 191 older people.

People's experience of using this service and what we found.

People using the service, benefited from a service that was committed to providing safe and high-quality care and support. We were assured risks to people were identified and managed. Medicines were managed safely.

People were involved in their own care and support plan and were supported by a consistent staff team who knew their needs well.

Staff supported people to retain their independence in order to remain living in their own homes.

We received positive feedback from both people who used the service and their relatives about the quality of the care and support they received.

People and staff praised the managers of the service and agreed that they were approachable, knowledgeable, fair and did their job well. The staff team worked well together and supported the registered manager.

Recruitment practices were safe and relevant checks had been completed before staff worked at the service.

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 service practiced a compassionate culture which was committed to delivering high-quality care to people. This was underpinned by good governance and collaborative working to achieve positive outcomes for people.

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 (8 April 2020).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well Led. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Dynamic People Homecare Services provides personal care services to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection 170 people were receiving a personal care service.

Not everyone using the service receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; 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

People told us people they were happy with the care and support they received because they felt safe and all their needs were met by kind and caring staff.

People had access to healthcare services and were involved in decisions about their care. Partnerships with other agencies and health professionals enabled effective outcomes for people. Staff supported people to take medicines safely.

Risks to people were assessed and regularly reviewed. Staff understood the actions needed to minimise the risk of avoidable harm including the prevention of avoidable infection. Staff had completed safeguarding training and understood their role in identifying and reporting any concerns of potential abuse or poor

practice.

People praised the managers of the service and agreed that they were approachable, knowledgeable, fair and did their job well. The staff team worked well together and supported the registered manager.

The staff team was committed to providing a high-quality service. They had undertaken training so that they were skilled and knowledgeable to effectively meet people’s needs. Staff understood their responsibilities to report any concerns.

Staff encouraged people to be as independent as possible and respected people’s privacy and dignity. Staff knew people well.

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 given choices about the way in which they were cared for. Staff listened to them and knew their needs well. Care plans contained information about each person’s individual support needs and preferences in relation to their care and we found evidence of good outcomes for people. When people did not have the capacity to make their own decisions, staff maximised their involvement and made decisions in their best interests, in accordance with legislation.

Recruitment practices were safe and relevant checks had been completed before staff worked at the service.

People told us that staff were able to meet their needs and were respectful of their individual preferences. Relatives told us staff who supported their loved ones were kind and caring.

People confirmed the service did not miss any care calls and that staff were usually on time.

People received care and support from a small group of staff, which provided consistency.

The managers of the service actively sought the views of people and their relatives about the running of the service and they dealt promptly with any concerns that people raised.

The provider had systems in place to monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service provided.

More information is in the full report.

Rating at last inspection

At the last inspection we rated this service Good. The report was published on 14 September 2017.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor this service.

Dynamic People Homecare Services provides personal care services to people in their own homes At the time of our inspection approximately 214 people were receiving a personal care service.

The service had a registered manager who had been in post since the service opened in 1989. 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

People’s needs were assessed and care plans were developed to identify what care and support people required. People were involved in their care planning and were able to express their views or raise concerns. When people’s needs changed, this was quickly identified and prompt, appropriate action was taken to ensure people’s well-being was protected. People had a copy of their care plan in their home.

People experienced positive outcomes as a result of the service they received and gave us good feedback about their care and support.

People were safe. Staff understood how to recognise the signs and symptoms of potential abuse and told us they would report any concerns they may have to their manager. Assessments were undertaken to assess any risks to the people using the service and the staff supporting them. This included environmental risks and any risks due to people’s health and support needs. The risk assessments we viewed included information about action to be taken to minimise these risks.

Staff were motivated and proud to work for the service; as a result staff turnover was kept to a minimum ensuring that continuity of care was in place for most people who used the service. A number of staff had worked for the agency for many years.

Staff were respectful of people’s privacy and maintained their dignity. Staff told us they gave people privacy whilst they undertook aspects of personal care, asking people how they would like things done and making enquiries as to their well-being to ensure people were comfortable.

The service followed safe recruitment practices and carried out appropriate checks before staff started supporting people. There were sufficient numbers of staff to safely meet people’s needs.

The registered manager demonstrated sound leadership and a good understanding of the importance of effective quality assurance systems. There were processes in place to monitor quality and understand the experiences of people who used the service. We saw that regular visits and phone calls had been made by the office staff to people using the service and their relatives in order to obtain feedback about the staff and the care provided.

Managers demonstrated strong values and a desire to learn about and implement best practice throughout the service. Care staff received regular supervision and appraisal from their manager. People were supported by staff who had excellent knowledge and skills required to meet their needs. The provider had their own training department which organised the training of all staff. This included providing literacy training for staff where English was not their first language, so that they could provide culturally appropriate care.

People were supported to eat and drink. Staff supported people to take their medicines when required and attended healthcare appointments and liaised with their GP and other healthcare professionals to meet people’s needs.

The service had a complaints policy. People who used the service and their relatives told us they knew how to make a complaint if needed.

We spoke with three people and one relative of people who used the service over the telephone. We also spoke with four members of staff and the registered manager.

People who used the service mostly provided positive feedback regarding their experience of the service. Comments included "They provide a fantastic service and exactly what we need." Another comment made "They're doing what they're meant to be doing."

We viewed eight care plans. Individual needs were established before the person used the service. We found that the care plans were detailed and specific to the individual's needs and preferences. People told us that they were involved in making decisions about their care and support.

Staff were knowledgeable about the people they supported. They were provided with practical training appropriate to their roles. We found that staff were regularly supervised.

We found that the provider had robust systems in place to regularly assess and monitor the quality of the services provided.

People who use the service and their relatives said that they felt safe with their carers. The agency had an appropriate safeguarding policy and procedure. Staff we spoke with were aware of the procedure to follow when responding to allegations or incidents of abuse.

People who use the service indicated that their carers were reliable and competent. The training records indicated they had been provided with essential training. Staff informed us that they felt supported by their managers.

People and their relatives said they had been consulted regarding the services provided. Reviews of care had been carried out with them. Arrangements for quality assurance were in place. Monitoring visits and spot checks had been carried out by the agency and concerns expressed by them had been promptly responded to. This was confirmed in the complaints' records.