D&J Care Services

Updated 22 June 2019

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. 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: This inspection was completed by one inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The expert-by-experience spoke on the telephone with people who used the service and their relatives.

Service and service type: This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to older adults.

The service 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:

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because we needed to be sure that they would be in.

Inspection site visit activity started 13 May 2019 and ended on 28 May 2019. We visited the office location on both 13 and 28 May 2019 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did:

Before the inspection we looked at all the information we had about the service. This information included statutory notifications the provider had sent to CQC. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. Due to technical problems, the provider was not able to complete a Provider Information Return. 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 judgments in this report. We also sought feedback from the local authority that commissioned the service. We used all this information to help plan our inspection.

During the inspection we spoke with four people and four relatives to gather their views about the service. We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager, operations manager, office manager and two care workers. We reviewed six people's care plans, risk assessments and four medicines records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment, training and supervision. We also looked at records relating to the management of the service including the provider's policies and procedures, accident and incident records, surveys, monitoring checks and minutes of meetings.

Updated 22 June 2019

About the service: 76 Gilbert Road is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to older adults living in their own homes. At the time of this inspection, 30 people were using the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

People and their relatives spoke positively about the service and told us it was well managed. People received care and support which was safe and personalised to their needs. People were protected from the risk of abuse and avoidable harm and any lessons learnt from accidents and incidents were used to prevent reoccurrences. People were supported to take their medicines safely and staff followed appropriate infection control practices. The service followed safe recruitment checks and there were enough staff available to support people’s needs.

Before people started using the service, their needs were assessed to ensure they could be met. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. People received care and support from staff that had the knowledge and skills to meet their needs. People were supported to maintain good health; eat healthily and supported to access healthcare services when required.

People were supported by staff that were kind, caring, respectful of their privacy and dignity and promoted their independence. People and their relatives were involved in care planning and were provided with choice. Staff understood the Equality Act and supported people in a caring way. People’s communication needs had been assessed and met. People were supported to participate in activities that interested them and knew how to complain if they were unhappy.

The management team demonstrated a commitment to ensure people experienced a meaningful, person centred and high-quality care. There were systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service and feedback was sought from people to make improvements where required. The service worked in partnership with key organisations to plan and deliver an effective service.

Rating at last inspection: Good (Report published 30 December 2016)

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk