Diversity Social Care Ltd

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• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

Responsive – this means we looked for evidence that the provider met people’s needs. This is the first assessment of this key question for this service. This key question has been rated good. This meant people’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery.

This service scored 64 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The provider made sure people were at the centre of their care and treatment choices and they decided, in partnership with people, how to respond to any relevant changes in people’s needs. However, this was not reflected in people’s care records. Relatives described how their family members were provided with personalised care. A relative told us, “[Name] can be fiery and aggressive; independence is very important to [Name]. The carers are good and understand [Name]. They manage the personality changes very well and never get into a debate; they are non-confrontational which really helps.” Care plans were not fully personalised and required further development to ensure staff had access to people’s specific requests, routines and preferences.

The provider understood the diverse health and care needs of people and their local communities, so care was joined-up, flexible and supportive of choice and continuity. The registered manager told us they had held a number of meetings with professionals involved in people’s care to establish continuity in support for people. Although this was not always reflected in people’s care records, relatives told us this support meant people’s needs could be supported in their own home and relatives received the support they needed to continue as primary carers.

The provider did not always supply appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs. People’s communication plans lacked detail. Although people and relatives did not raise concerns about accessing information, people’s care plans did not always provide specific guidance around how they communicated. Additionally, there was lack of detailed guidance in terms of how people preferred to receive their communication. For example, large print or verbal or pictorial information. The registered manager was reviewing care plans following our assessment.

The provider made it easy for people to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. Staff involved people in decisions about their care and told them what had changed as a result. The provider had a complaints policy in place which highlighted how complaints would be handled and gave timescales for responses. Relatives told us, “I haven’t had any complaints but if I did, I would be very comfortable talking to [registered manager]. Any gripe has been dealt with straight away. They run a very tight ship, and they are open to criticism; they want to know what works,” and “I can contact [registered manager] or our social worker. We have had one issue with mobile phones with one carer. I raised the issue about 6 months ago and it improved but it is now starting to dwindle again. The carer is a great carer, but I don’t want them on their mobiles. It makes us feel uncomfortable.” We raised this concern with the registered manager who told us they would address this.

The provider did not always make sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it. There was no record to demonstrate people’s health care needs had been fully assessed by the provider and no health action plans or process to review people’s health were in place. The registered manager told us people had access to a range of healthcare professionals to support their health and well-being and relatives confirmed this was the case. The registered manager was aware a more planned approach to ensuring people had access to all the health care support they required was needed and would be completed alongside changes being made to care plans. Whilst there was no evidence the lack of health action plans had resulted in poor health outcomes, there was a risk health concerns would not always be effectively monitored.

Staff and leaders actively listened to information about people who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes and tailored their care, support and treatment in response to this. People were supported to access community resources and services. Staff worked with families and provided advocacy for people to ensure their voices were heard in all aspects of their care, treatment and support. Relatives described positive outcomes from people’s care including reduced need for unplanned medical intervention and improved wellbeing from positive interactions.

The provider assured us people would be supported to plan for important life changes, so they could have enough time to make informed decisions about their future, including at the end of their life. Staff supported young people and their families as they planned transitions from child to adult services. The registered manager told us that if people’s needs changed and decisions were required regarding their future needs, they would support people and their families to work through this.