Delta Care - Trafford

Updated 29 July 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post. The manager had submitted an application to register and gained registration shortly after this inspection.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 24 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.

Inspection activity started on 16 May and ended on 6 June 2023. We visited the location’s office on 16 May 2023.

What we did before the 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 reviewed a range of records. This included 4 people’s care records and medication records. We looked at 4 staff files in relation to recruitment, staff supervision and training and a small number of records relating to the management of the service, including audits.

We spoke with 7 people who used the service and 3 relatives about their experience of the care provided,on the telephone. We spoke with 8 members of staff including the manager, regional manager, 2 care co-ordinators and 4 care workers. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at electronic call monitoring records and care plan information, as well as quality assurance records. Policies and procedures were also reviewed

Updated 29 July 2023

About the service

Delta Care - Trafford is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. People receiving care had a range of support needs; some people had long-term health conditions.

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. At the time of this inspection the agency was supporting 125 people; 110 received help with aspects of personal care.

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

People told us they felt safe. Medicines were administered safely however, we have made a recommendation that staff receive further training in relation to the administration of medicines. The manager addressed this during the inspection.

Staff understood the risks to people's safety and wellbeing and what they should do to keep people safe. Risk assessments contained basic information to help minimise risk.

People we spoke with told us staff were usually on time and they had not experienced any missed care visits.

Safe systems of recruitment were followed to ensure staff were safe to work with vulnerable people. Recruitment processes helped to ensure staff were of suitable character and had relevant experience.

There were safe infection control procedures in place including enough supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE). The provider had infection control measures in place and people told us staff wore PPE.

Staff had good relationships with other health professionals and liaised with stakeholders to ensure people received appropriate support.

Staff were supported with an induction, supervision and training, to ensure they had the knowledge and skills to support people. Spot checks and competency checks were carried out to ensure staff practice kept people safe.

People and their relatives told us staff knew their needs and preferences well. Staff were available to support people to stay in touch with those who were important to them, and to follow their interests, where this was an agreed part of their care. People and relatives knew how to complain and told us any concerns they had raised had been dealt with to their satisfaction.

The manager monitored standards of care delivery with a range of quality checks and audits, although we identified these needed to be improved to ensure more robust oversight of the service. Policies and procedures were in place to guide staff practice.

Feedback from people, their relatives and staff was positive. One person said, “I have already recommended [them] to others.” Staff told us they were well-supported and felt part of a team.

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

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 28 August 2020.)

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Delta Care – Trafford on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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