This inspection was carried out between the 1 and 2 February 2016 and the 8 and 9 February 2016. The inspection was announced, and we gave the provider 48 hours’ notice to ensure there was a manager available to assist with the inspection process.North East (DCC Homecare Service) provides personal care for adults in their own homes. This includes people living with dementia, people with physical disabilities and people with learning disabilities. North East (DCC Homecare Service) also provides extra care and re-ablement for people. Extra care services are where people have flexible home care in purpose-built developments. Re-ablement services provide short term support for people after hospital discharge. At the time of the inspection there were 296 people using the service.
There was a registered manager at the service. 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.
At the last inspection on 17 February 2014 we asked the provider to take action to make improvements to medicines management and availability of people’s records and this action has been completed.
People felt safe using the service and staff understood how to protect people from potential abuse. There were systems and processes in place to check the suitability of staff to work with people who used the service.
People were supported by staff who treated them with dignity and respect. People felt cared for by staff who understood their care needs. The registered manager understood the key principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA). The registered manager and the staff respected people’s rights to make their own decisions and gained people’s agreement before they provided any personal care.
The registered manager and the management team strived to provide people with a stable and consistent team of staff. Staff completed a period of induction and shadowing to support them to meet people’s needs effectively. The provider had arrangements for staff training needs to be met.
Care plans and risk assessments contained relevant information for staff to help them to provide personalised care to people. Information was available to people about making complaints and people knew how, and who, to complaint to. Staff said they knew how to raise any concerns or issues with the registered manager and the management team, and knew they would be listened to and their concerns would be acted on.
People were supplied with a rota in advance so they knew which staff to expect to provide support and care. People received their care calls when they felt they should, and were contacted if or when staff were running late.
Staff were aware of people’s personal care and associated health needs. People’s planned care was regularly reviewed and evaluated to ensure people received the service they needed.
People were promoted to remain as independent as possible. When people needed help and support with their nutritional needs, it was provided by staff.
Staff were aware of people’s needs and wishes and supported them in a personalised manner. Staff understood the values of the provider and ensured people were involved in their care.
The service was managed by a team who understood their roles and responsibilities in providing a good service to people. There were clear arrangements for the day to day running of the service.
There were processes in place to monitor the quality of the service people received and this helped to drive service improvements.