Dimensions North Midlands Domiciliary Care Office

Updated 26 February 2022

The inspection

We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.

Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people using the service and staff.

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 provider also provides care and support to people living in ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

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 because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection-

We spoke with one person using the service and one relative. We spoke with seven members of staff including the registered manager and support workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and medication records. We looked at three 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.

This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location’s office. We used technology such as video calls to enable us to engage with people using the service and staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation. Inspection activity was carried out on 01 and 02 January.

After the inspection

We spoke with a relative of one of the people using the service.

Updated 26 February 2022

About the service

Dimensions North Midlands Domiciliary Office is a community-based care provider that provides personal care to people living in their own homes and supported living settings. At the time of inspection two people were receiving a service and were in receipt of the regulated activity of 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.

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

Staff had received training in safeguarding and knew the actions to take to keep people safe. There were recruitment processes in place and recruitment checks were carried out before staff were appointed. This ensured suitable staff were appointed to support people. People’s medicines were managed safely. Staff followed infection control guidance and had access to personal protective equipment.

Staff received induction training and the provider carried out competency checks to assess whether staff were working in line with best practice.

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 supported by kind and caring staff who knew them well. People’s individual needs were respected and staff supported people with dignity and respect.

People’s care and support was planned in partnership with them and risk assessments were regularly updated.

The provider carried out regular audits of the service to oversee the quality of the care provided. The provider worked in multi-disciplinary teams in order to provide effective and responsive care for people and meet their changing needs.

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 September 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection for this newly registered service.

This was an ‘inspection using remote technology’. This means we did not visit the office location and instead used technology such as electronic file sharing to gather information, and video and phone calls to engage with people using the service as part of this performance review and assessment.

Follow up

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