Archived: Willow House DCA

Updated 18 December 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check 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 8 November 2015 and the provider was given short notice due to the service being small and arrangements needed to be made for us to visit the person and gain their views on the service they received. The inspection was undertaken by one inspector. Prior to the inspection we looked at all information available to us. This included looking at any notifications submitted by the service. Notifications are information about specific events that the provider is required to tell us about.

As part of our inspection we reviewed the care records relating to the support people received and also looked at staff personal files to see how they were trained and supported. We spoke with one member of staff who was providing the support that day and the registered manager. We looked at other records relating to the running of the service which included audits, staff supervision and training records and meeting minutes.

Updated 18 December 2015

This inspection took place on 8 November 2015 and was unannounced. The last inspection took place on 16 January 2014 and no breaches of legal requirements were found at this time.

Willow House Domiciliary Care Agency provides personal care to one person with a learning disability in their own home. There was a registered manager in place. 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.

People’s rights were protected in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. People’s capacity was considered in decisions being made about their care and support and best interest decisions were made when necessary.

Staffing levels were sufficient and flexible to meet the person’s needs. Staff work on a one to one basis for 14 hours per day, together with electronic monitoring systems at night to ensure the person remained safe. Therefore sufficient numbers of staff were always available to support the person’s individual needs safely.

Safe recruitment procedures were in place. The provider ensured checks were made on staff’s suitability to work with people. The person who used the service was also involved in the recruitment process of staff by being present and asking any questions they wanted to ask.

People were supported by staff who were kind and caring in their approach and were treated with dignity and respect. This was confirmed by the observations we made during our inspection.

People had choice about their daily activities. People were involved in their support planning and chose what activities they wanted to undertake on a weekly basis.

The provider had ensured that staff had the knowledge and skills they needed to carry out their roles effectively. Regular training was provided and staff we spoke with were knowledgeable about people’s needs.

The person we spoke with told us they received a good quality of care and support and was able to tell us who they would tell if they felt they didn’t. The person felt confident in who they could talk to if they had concerns.

The service was well led. Staff spoke highly of the management team and the vision of the service. There was a positive attitude amongst staff towards their work and staff responded well to the direction of the management team. A detailed system was in place to monitor the quality of the service that people received. This included a system to manage people’s complaints.