Archived: DMD Medway Limited

Updated 8 October 2021

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 was carried out by one inspector.

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 the provider and manager were legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period notice of the inspection. We needed to be sure the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. We also needed to arrange to speak with people and for documents to be sent to us.

Inspection activity started on 08 September 2021 and ended on 17 September 2021. We visited the office location on 08 September 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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.

During the inspection

We spoke with one person about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with two members of staff including the registered manager, provider and secretary.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records. We reviewed medicines records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 8 October 2021

About the service

DMD Medway Ltd is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people living in their own home. At the time of the inspection, two people were using the service. People using the service were older people.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is to 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

Feedback from the person we spoke with was positive. They were satisfied with the care provided by the agency staff.

People received safe care and support from DMD Medway Limited. The registered manager and staff we spoke with knew what their responsibilities were in relation to keeping people safe from the risk of abuse. Spot checks and home visits were carried out to ensure both staff and people were safe.

Care plans contained detailed risk assessments. This mitigated any identified risks. Environmental risk assessments were also in place, which identified and reduced any environmental risks to people and staff.

People’s needs were assessed prior to receiving support including their protected characteristics under the Equalities Act.

Robust recruitment processes were in place. This prevented unsuitable staff from working with people. Staff were skilled in carrying out their role. The registered manager ensured staff were appropriately trained.

Staff were caring and always protected people’s dignity and independence. Staff gave people choices in their care daily.

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. For example, Staff had the information they needed to support people to make choices. Staff knew people had the right to make unwise decision.

The service had an effective system in place to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the services provided.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 16 July 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the length of time since the service registered with us.

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.