Deben Willow Care

Updated 4 September 2024

Deben Willow Care is a domiciliary care agency, providing personal care to adults in their own homes. At the time of the inspection there were 106 people receiving personal care. 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.

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 statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and/or who are autistic.

Dates of assessment 25 May 2025 to 18 June 2025 when feedback was given to the leadership team. At the last inspection 2 September 2019, we rated the service good. At this assessment, the rating has remained good.

During this assessment we carried out telephone interviews, contacting 25 people who used the service, 5 relatives and received feedback from 17 care staff about their experience of Deben Willow Care.

This assessment was undertaken in response to concerns raised with us regarding staffing, management and the culture within the service. A number of quality statements that related to the issues raised were assessed to seek assurances of the service provided.

Overall people received safe quality care and were satisfied that their needs were met. However, there were some concerns relating to the timing of visits with people not knowing who to expect and when, some care staff not being on time and people not being informed of changes to their care visits in a timely manner. We identified some communication issues such as language and cultural barriers with overseas staff.

The registered manager who had been in post 2 month prior to this assessment had identified these issues and was taking action. This was a work in progress and had not been fully embedded at the time of the assessment.

We found that people’s risks were assessed, regularly reviewed with mitigating actions taken to protect people from further harm. Staff provided safe, person-centred care which met people’s needs and preferences. Care records provided information to guide staff on how to deliver safe care. We shared examples where the documentation in some areas could be further enhanced to support people’s health and wellbeing outcomes.

The registered manager was open to feedback and demonstrated a positive approach to learning and development. The service was well led with regular checks for quality and safety completed with actions in place for where improvements had been identified. There were regular staff and management meetings to share information, review actions for improvement and to discuss any shortfalls. To support ongoing development of the service the registered manager was strengthening the governance and monitoring systems in the service and we were encouraged by the actions they were taking.

Updated 4 September 2024

We received mixed feedback from people who used the service and their relatives. The majority shared positive experiences about the care and support provided and said they felt comfortable in the company of the staff and they received person centred care in line with their wishes. One person said, “It’s brilliant, very good.” Another commented, “I am very safe. Nothing to worry about at all.” A third shared, “The carers suit me well, they know me well, even down to how I like my hot drinks.”

However, several people described frustration with time keeping and they did not always know who to expect and when. One person said, “My regular carer in the week is lovely and will do anything that needs doing. Weekends though, I never know who will turn up.” Another person said, “It’s always changing; never tell me who is coming.” A third person commented, “I have the same team but it seems to change regularly.” The registered manager was rolling out a 2 week rota to address these inconsistencies, improve communication and manage expectations.

People and relatives told us the staff understood their needs and associated risks, never rushed them and they had built a rapport with them. One person said, “They all seem to know what to do so I can’t fault them. I actually look forward to their visits.” Another person shared, “They know I can’t hurry with my walking frame so they go at my pace.” A third person told us, “They are the kindest, most perfect people you could hope to meet.”

People said they knew how to complain and felt able to raise any concerns if needed. One person shared, “If I do have to ring the office, it will get sorted.” Another shared that they had used the out of hours number in an emergency and, “The manager came out herself.”

We saw that people and where appropriate their relatives had been asked for feedback either during care reviews or by surveys and this had been acted on. One person said, “I have had someone come round to check everything was working, and did I want to change anything? They made notes and changed my visit times as I wanted them a little later.”