26 November 2020
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Direct Health – Doncaster is a domiciliary care agency providing support for people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 178 people using the service.
People’s experience of using this service:
The registered manager had worked with the provider in addressing the shortfalls identified at the last inspection and to make further improvements in the service. For instance, improvements had been made in the effectiveness of the quality and safety audits.
People felt safe and happy with the staff who cared for them. For instance, one person said, “They are marvellous, really lovely. I would say they are first class.” Staff received daily messages via text and e-mail to make sure they had access to up to date government guidance on Covid-19 infection control. Risks were well managed, and people’s medicines were managed safely. Staff had a good understanding of how to safeguard people from abuse and there were enough staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe.
People had regular contact with the care coordinators or members of the management team and most praised the care staff and the care coordinators very highly. People were asked for feedback about the care provided and the provider used this to improve the service. It was also evident the team worked well in partnership with other professionals to provide a person centred service that met people’s needs.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update:
The last rating for this service was good, with requires improvement in the key question of well led. (published March 2018). At this inspection we found improvements had been made.
Why we inspected
We were made aware of concerns in relation to how some people’s care had been provided and managed. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.
The concerns we received related to infection control, staff changes and the induction of new staff, medication and the management culture. We used this information when both planning and carrying out our inspection.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not include them in this inspection. Ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection and the overall rating for the service remains good.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme Follow up
We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.