CareTech Community Services Hanley DCA

About the service

CareTech Community Services Hanley DCA provides personal care to people in their own homes through a supported living service where people live in their own home as independently as possible. For this inspection we focussed on the service in Wellington, Telford.

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. There were five people living at this location and four people received a regulated activity.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

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

People were supported by staff that understood how to protect them from the risk of abuse. Risks were assessed and plans were put in place to support people to manage risks as safely as possible and in the least restrictive way.

Staff had the skills and training opportunities to keep people safe while offering support. Staff received training in managing medicines safely and supporting people with behaviours that challenged. Staff were able to work flexibly to meet people’s needs.

Staff understood how to protect people from the risk of cross infection and effective infection control measures were in place to reduce risks.

People were supported to maintain their health and wellbeing and staff and managers worked with health and social care professionals to ensure a consistent approach.

Where incidents occurred, there was a learning process in place to reduce the risk of these happening again.

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence. The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent despite the current challenges of supporting people during the pandemic.

The manager had systems in place to monitor the service and develop action plans. There was a general recognition that the service had improved since the appointment of the new manager.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 6 April 2020).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the overall management of the provider’s local services and the potential for people to be at risk of harm. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

CareTech Community Services Hanley DCA provides personal care to people in their own homes through a supported living service where people live in their own home as independently as possible. The service was supporting 30 people at the time of the inspection.

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.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

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

People were supported by staff that understood how to protect them from the risk of abuse. Risks were assessed and plans were put in place to meet them. People were supported to manage their medicines safely. People were supported by enough suitably skilled staff. Staff understood how to protect people from the risk of cross infection. Where incidents occurred, there was a learning process in place to reduce the risk of these happening again.

People were supported to maintain their health and wellbeing. Needs were assessed and care plans put in place which included the use of assistive technology. People were supported to maintain a healthy diet and had their oral health care needs met. People were supported in a consistent way and staff received training to ensure they could meet people’s needs.

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

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 staff that were caring and had good relationships with them. People had their privacy protected and they received support to make their own decisions.

People had their individual needs and preferences met. Peoples communication needs were met and where people made complaints these were responded to.

The registered manager had systems in place to monitor the service and develop action plans. The provider sought people’s feedback and used this to make improvements to the service. Staff worked in partnership with other agencies and had systems in place which encouraged learning.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 6 September 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.

This service provides care and support to people living in ‘supported living’ accommodation, so that they can live in their own home as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate agreements; this inspection looked at their personal care and support arrangements.

There was a registered manager in post who was on a period of extended leave. The provider had therefore appointed another manager to manage the service in their absence. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

There were two people receiving the regulated activity of personal care at the service when we inspected.

People told us the care they received was safe and they had no concerns about their welfare. People told us they felt safe when the staff were with them in or out of their home. Staff knew the action to take if a person was at risk of potential abuse to ensure they were protected from further risk.

People had their individual risks looked at and had discussed how these could be reduce with plans in place to manage them. There were enough staff to ensure that people had their calls at the agreed time and by the required number of staff. People who required support with their medicines were confident that staff helped them in receiving their medicines when required.

Staff received regular training so their skills and knowledge reflected the needs of the people they cared for. Staff were supported with regular supervisions with the management team, to reflect and discuss how their role and responsibilities were being met. Where people needed support with their meals they told us they were happy that staff gave them a choice or provided the assistance needed to enjoy their meal.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. People who could not make decisions for themselves were supported to make decisions in their best interest. People received support to plan, make and prepare their meals. Healthcare appointments were arranged for people if needed and staff had helped to arrange transport or went with them.

People knew the staff and felt they provided a personalised service where time was spent chatting while providing care and getting to know them. People felt the care they met their needs. They were also supported in maintaining their dignity and encouraged to be involved in their care planning where able.

People and staff we spoke with told us the management team were available to talk with and would listen and act of any feedback provided on the service. The management team had kept their knowledge current with support from the provider and external professionals. The management team led by example and they regularly checked on the quality of the care that people received. The manager had developed a clear plan of improvements and was working towards achieving these throughout the year.