Voyage (DCA) London West

About the service

Voyage (DCA) London West is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. This includes people with a learning disability, autistic spectrum disorder, physical disability, sensory impairment, and younger adults. At the time of the inspection 17 people were receiving personal care support in their own homes.

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

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right Support

People received a service that was safe for them to use and staff to work in. There were regular reviews of the quality of the service, and improvements were made to ensure people’s care and support needs were met. This was in a way that suited to people best. Working partnerships were well-established that promoted people’s participation and reduced their danger of social isolation.

Right Care

Staff were appropriately recruited, trained, and in sufficient numbers to support people to live safely, whilst enjoying their lives. Risks were identified, assessed, monitored, and reviewed. Complaints, concerns, accidents and incidents, and safeguarding issues were appropriately reported, investigated, and recorded. Trained staff safely administered people’s medicines, or supported them to take their medicines, if required.

Right culture

The provider’s culture was positive, open, and honest with a leadership and management that was clearly identifiable and transparent. Staff were aware of and followed the provider’s vision and values which were clearly defined. Staff knew their responsibilities, accountability and were happy to take responsibility and report any concerns that might arise.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published 5 March 2018).

This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led. 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 remained Good.

For more information, please read the detailed findings section of this report. If you are reading this as a separate summary, the full report can be found on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to check whether the service was continuing to provide a good, rated service for people.

The inspection took place on 6 February 2018. We gave the registered manager two working days’ notice as the location provided a service to people in their own homes and we needed to confirm the registered manager would be available when we inspected.

Voyage (DCA) Isleworth is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses in the community. The service is also a resource centre offering support to people with learning disabilities. The Care Quality Commission does not regulate this part of the service. The service was established to provide additional personal care for some of the people who used the resource centre when they were at home. At the time of the inspection one person with a learning disability and physical disabilities was receiving support in their own home.

The service was managed by Voyage 1 Limited, an organisation providing care and support in care homes, supported living services, resources centres and domiciliary care services across the United Kingdom.

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.

At the last inspection on 2 February 2016 we rated the service Good.

At this inspection on the 6 February 2018 we found the service remained Good.

The person using the service was not able to tell us about their experiences of using the service but their representative told us they were happy. They explained that the staff were kind, caring and responsive. Communication between the staff and person using the service was good and the person's representative was able to discuss changes, concerns and provide positive feedback to the registered manager, who responded and acted on this.

The staff were well supported and had the training and information they needed. There were systems for recruiting staff to make sure they were suitable.

The person's care had been planned in a way which met their needs. This plan was being regularly reviewed and had been updated to reflect changes in their needs. There was clear information about how they should be supported and how staff should monitor their health and wellbeing.

The provider had effective systems to monitor the quality of the service, make improvements and mitigate risks.

The inspection took place on 2 February 2016 and was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice because the service is a domiciliary care agency and we wanted to make sure someone would be available to speak with.

This was the first inspection of the service which was registered in August 2014.

Voyage (DCA) Isleworth is an outreach service providing personal care and support to people who have a learning disability in their own homes. At the time of the inspection two people were using the service. The manager and staff also worked at a resource centre for people who have a learning disability at the same address. The service was managed by Voyage 1 Limited, an organisation providing care and support for people with learning disabilities, autism and brain injuries throughout the United Kingdom.

There was a manager in post, who had started work at the service in December 2015. He was in the process of applying to be registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

The relatives of people who used the service were happy with this service. People’s needs were met. Relatives and other important representatives were involved in planning the care for people. The people using the service did not have the capacity to consent to their own care or be involved in planning this. The provider had worked with others to make decisions in their best interests. The care was person centred and reflected their individual needs and preferences.

The staff felt supported and had the skills they needed to care for people. There were enough staff and they were suitably recruited and trained. They were kind and caring.

There were systems designed to safeguard people and to assess and minimise risks to people’s safety and wellbeing.

The service was well managed and there were systems to record and respond to changes in people’s needs, complaints and feedback from stakeholders.