Access Dignity Care Limited Also known as Access Dignity

Access Dignity Care Limited is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care to older people in their own homes within the Walton on Naze and surrounding areas. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting 49 people with 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

People felt safe and were supported by safely recruited and trained staff who understood their needs and preferences and knew them well. People were supported to take their medicines as prescribed and access health professionals should they require and wish this. Where the service was responsible, people were supported to maintain a balanced diet. People were supported by staff who were respectful, kind and compassionate.

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 and those important to them were at the heart of their care. People were very involved in the planning and delivery of exceptionally person centred and holistic support from staff. This had significantly improved people’s physical and mental wellbeing, independence and overall quality of life. Everyone said staff were exceptionally kind and caring. Staff were able to describe how they ensured people's dignity was respected. People and their relatives said they were involved in their care plans.

People were empowered by passionate staff who encouraged people to achieve their goals and follow their interests. People were supported by staff to improve their confidence, spend time in their local community and build trusting relationships with staff and other people receiving care to improve their quality of life.

People were consistently supported and encouraged by staff to engage in activities which were meaningful to them. This meant people consistently achieved positive outcomes with their care and support and remained independent for longer.

People were actively involved in the planning and review of their care and encouraged to give feedback about the service. People's needs, goals and preferences were included in person centred care plans which gave staff clear guidance on how to meet their needs. This ensured people received care and support in a way they preferred.

Where people had made complaints, the registered manager had dealt with these thoroughly and provided feedback to people and their families. The registered manager reviewed the quality of the service to ensure areas of improvement were identified and people continued to experience a high quality of care. The registered manager promoted an inclusive and positive culture at the service which meant people felt able to communicate openly with staff and the management team.

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 17 March 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.

Access Dignity provides care and support to people living in the Tendring area of Essex, covering Frinton-on-Sea, Kirby, Walton-on-the-Naze and Clacton-on-Sea. At the time of our inspection Access Dignity provided a service for 47 people with care packages that totalled approximately 400 hours per week. These care packages ranged from short visits by one member of staff twice a day to more complex care that required two members of staff carrying out longer visits up to four times a day.

There was a registered manager in post. 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. The registered manager was assisted in the day-to-day running of the service by one of the directors and the office administrator who worked together to provide strong management.

People were safe because the management team and staff understood their responsibilities to recognise abuse and. keep people safe. People received safe care that met their assessed needs and staff knew how to manage risk effectively.

There were sufficient staff who had been recruited safely and who had the correct skills and knowledge to provide care and support in ways that people preferred.

The provider had clear systems in place to manage medicines and people were supported to take their prescribed medicines safely.

People were supported effectively with their health needs.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) monitors the operation of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and we found that the provider was following the MCA code of practice.

The management team supported staff to provide care that was centred on the person and staff understood their responsibility to treat people as individuals.

People were treated with kindness and respect by staff who understood their needs and preferences. Staff respected people’s choices and took their preferences into account when providing support. People were supported to access the local community so that they were not socially isolated.

Staff had good relationships with people who used the service and understood their needs. People’s privacy and dignity was respected.

There was an open culture and the management team supported staff to provide care that met people’s needs.

The provider had systems in place to check the quality of the service and take the views of people into account to make improvements to the service. There were systems in place for people to raise concerns and there were opportunities available for people to give their feedback about the service.

The management team were visible and actively involved in monitoring people’s care and supporting staff. Staff were positive about their roles and their views were valued by the management team.