Background to this inspection
Updated
31 July 2021
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
An inspector and an Expert by Experience carried out this inspection. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats and specialist housing.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 10/06/2021 and ended on 18/06/2021. We visited the office location on 18/06/2021.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we held about the service, including the notifications we had received from the provider. Notifications are reports on changes, events or incidents the provider is legally obliged to send us within required timescales. We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection.
We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service.
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with 15 people and 11 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 14 members of staff, including the registered manager, locality managers and support staff.
We reviewed a range of records. This included six people's care records and 10 medication records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, were reviewed.
After the inspection
We obtained feedback from five external professionals who work with the service.
Updated
31 July 2021
About the service
Dimensions Teeside Domiciliary Care Office is a domiciliary care agency supporting people with personal care in their own homes. All of the people supported were living with either a learning disability and/or autism spectrum disorders. At the time of our inspection 97 people were being supported.
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
The service had a track record of being an excellent role model for other services. The registered manager and provider had created a clear culture of striving for excellence through partnership working, consultation, research and reflective practice. Staff were motivated by and proud of the service. There were consistently high levels of constructive engagement with people, relatives and staff.
People and relatives spoke positively about the support provided by staff, who they described as caring and kind. Staff supported people to live as full and fulfilling a life as possible. People and relatives said staff valued people as individuals and treated them with dignity and respect.
Medicines were managed safely. Risks to people were assessed and addressed. Staff were well-matched to the people they supported, and people were involved in their recruitment. People were safeguarded from abuse.
Staff received regular training, supervision and appraisal. 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. Staff worked effectively with external professionals to ensure people received the healthcare support they needed.
Support was based on people’s assessed needs and preferences, which were regularly reviewed. Effective systems were in place to investigate and respond to complaints.
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.
This service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. Support was designed to promote people’s control of their lives and promote their independence. Care was personalised and delivered in a way that respected people’s privacy and dignity. The service had clear culture of empowering people to live the lives they wanted.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
This service was registered with us on 28/01/2020 and this is the first inspection. The last rating for the service at the previous premises was good, published on 20/04/2018.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection to give the service a 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.