Archived: Domiciliary Care Services Limited

Updated 1 March 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 1 and 2 February 2016. We gave the registered manager 48 hours’ notice of our intention to visit to ensure they were available at the time of the visit. The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector.

Before the inspection, we contacted the local authority contracting unit for feedback and checked the information we held about the provider. This included statutory notifications sent to us by the registered manager about incidents and events that had occurred at the service. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We used all this information to decide which areas to focus on during our inspection.

During the inspection, we spoke with eight people using the service and four relatives over the telephone. We also spoke to five members of care staff, a supervisor and the registered manager.

We spent time looking at a range of records during our time spent in the agency’s office, this included five people’s care plans and other associated documentation, two members of staff recruitment records, a sample of policies and procedures and quality assurance records.

Updated 1 March 2016

We carried out an inspection of Domiciliary Care Services Ltd on 1 and 2 February 2016. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of our intention to carry out the inspection.

Domiciliary Care Services Ltd is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. The agency’s office is located near the centre of Clitheroe, close to all local amenities. The agency provides a service to people residing in the Ribble Valley. At the time of the inspection there were 48 people using the service.

The service was managed by a registered manager. 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.

We lasted inspected this service on 13 November 2013 and found it was meeting the regulations in applicable at the time. Since the last inspection the agency had moved to a new office.

During this inspection we found the service was meeting the current regulations. However, we made one recommendation in relation to the implementation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). Whilst staff had received appropriate training, the principles of the Act had not been embedded into the assessment and care planning processes.

People and their relatives were satisfied with the service they received from Domiciliary Care Services Ltd. They told us they felt safe using the service. Potential risks to people’s health and well-being were assessed and managed effectively. Staff showed awareness of how to keep people safe and understood the policies and procedures used to safeguard people.

We found there were appropriate arrangements in place for managing people’s medicines.

Safe recruitment practices were followed and appropriate checks were undertaken, which helped to ensure suitable staff were employed to care for people. There were sufficient numbers of staff to maintain the schedule of care visits. Staff told us they felt supported and received regular supervision and support from the management team.

Where the service was responsible, people were supported to have a balanced diet that promoted healthy eating.

Staff were respectful of people’s privacy and maintained their dignity. All people spoken with told us the staff were kind and caring. People were actively involved in the development and review of their care plans. This meant people were able to influence the delivery of their care and staff had up to date information about people’s needs and wishes. People told us they usually received care from a consistent group of staff.

There was a quality monitoring system in place. The registered manager and supervisors undertook audits and checks were carried out to observe how the staff delivered care to people. People were asked for their views and feedback was acted upon to maintain or improve the service provided.