Darwin Community Support

Updated 8 May 2020

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection Team

The Inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type:

Darwin Community Support is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. Darwin Community Support had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

The inspection was announced 48 hours before the visit. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. We also needed to obtain people’s consent to contact them.

Inspection activity started on 06/03/20 and ended on 18/03/20. We visited the office location on 10/03/20 and 11/03/20.

What we did:

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority, professionals who work with the service and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

During the inspection,

During the visit we spoke with five people who used the service, to ask about their experience of the care provided and 2 family members. We spoke with ten members of staff including the registered manager, service manager, deputy manager, area manager, positive behavioural support lead, acting deputy manager and four carers.

We also spoke with two relatives that have family members using the service and a social worker from a local authority commissioning team on the telephone.

We reviewed a range of records about people's care and how the service was managed. This included looking at five people's care records and a sample of people's medicines administration records. We reviewed records of meetings, staff rotas and staff training records. We also reviewed the records of accidents, incidents, complaints and quality assurance audits the management team had completed.

Updated 8 May 2020

About the service

Darwin Community Support provides personal care for people as part of a domiciliary care scheme. 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 this inspection, they were providing a regulated activity for 27 people.

Darwin Community Support care staff supported people with a physical disability, those with a learning disability, older people with dementia, people with mental health problems and younger adults.

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 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 felt involved in the care and support they received which was personal and individual to them.

The provider had developed a culture where all staff encouraged people to explore their care and support options.

People were supported by staff members who were aware of their individual protected characteristics like age, gender and disability. The provider had embedded the equality, diversity and human rights approach to supporting people's privacy and dignity. People had very positive outcomes as a result. The provider fully understood people's individual needs and delivered care and support in a way that meets these.

Darwin Community Support made arrangements for people to engage in social activities, education and work, which were innovative, met people's individual needs, and followed best practice guidance so people could lead as full a life as possible.

The service knew what people have done in the past and what they wanted to achieve in the future. They evaluated whether they could accommodate people's desired activities and strived to make them happen.

The service had a very flexible approach to any restrictions imposed on people; keeping them under constant review, making them in a time-limited way, and only when necessary.

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 at Telford and Wrekin Shared Lives Scheme supported this practice.

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

The provider promoted a strong organisational commitment to achieving positive outcomes for people. This was evidenced through quality monitoring processes. The provider, and management team, had good links with the local communities within which people lived. The management team and provider had systems in place to identify improvements and drive good care.

The service consistently applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This helped people who use the service to 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 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 received safe care and support as the staff team had been trained to recognise potential signs of abuse and understood what to do to safely support people. The provider had assessed the risks to people associated with their care and support. Staff members were knowledgeable about these risks and knew what to do to minimise the potential for harm to people. When it was needed, people received safe support with their medicines by trained and competent staff members

People had access to additional healthcare services when required. Staff members knew people's individual health outcomes and supported them appropriately. When required, people were supported to maintain a healthy diet by a staff team which knew their individual preferences.

People received help and support from a kind and compassionate staff team with whom they had developed positive relationships. People were provided with information in a way they could understand.

The provider had systems in place to encourage and respond to any complaints or compliments from people or those close to them.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was 'Good' (report published 06 June 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 reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.