22 June 2022
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Domiciliary Care Agency Kent and Sussex is a service that provides personal care and support to adults living in 'supported living' settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. This supported living service meets the needs of people with a learning disability and autistic people, people with mental health needs, and people who have a physical disability. Not everybody using the service received the Regulated activity of personal care. At the time of this inspection there were twenty people receiving personal care at eight different homes. The service is run from an office in Rochester in Kent.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.
Rights Support
Staff focused on people’s strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life. For example, people were supported to go out to work and one person told us they loved going to work. Staff supported people to achieve their aspirations and goals. One person told us how they were supported to pursue their goal of being a DJ. Staff supported people to take part in activities, pursue their interests in their local area and to interact online with people who had shared interests. Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community.
Right Care
People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs. During inspection we observed staff to be kind and compassionate to people, taking a genuine interest in what they liked doing and the support they needed. People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs. Information would be given in a format that people needed such as picture cards and easy read posters. An easy read poster with the inspector’s picture on was given prior to visiting peoples’ homes. People had help to access easy read information to help people understand about this inspection. People’s care, treatment and support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life.
Right Culture
People and those important to them, including advocates, were involved in planning their care. Staff knew and understood people well and were responsive, supporting their aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing. For example, one person was supported to go on holiday this year and they were able to pick what they wanted to do which best suited them. People received good quality care, support and treatment because trained staff and specialists could meet their needs and wishes. Staff we spoke to were able to tell us people’s needs and preferences in relation to their care, support and aspirations.
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
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published 05 July 2018)
Why we inspected
We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of Right support right care right culture.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.