Witham Valley Care Group - DCA

Updated 1 November 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 19 and 20 September 2017 and was announced. The inspection team consisted of a single inspector.

The registered person was given a short period of notice because the service provides a domiciliary care service for younger adults who are often out during the day; we therefore needed to be sure that someone would be in.

Before the inspection, the registered person completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks them to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. In addition, we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included information that had been sent to us by other organisations and agencies such as the local authority who commissioned services from the registered persons and the local authority safeguarding team.

We also reviewed notifications of incidents that the registered persons had sent us since they had been registered with us. These are events that happened in the home that the registered persons are required to tell us about.

During our inspection we used a number of different ways to help us understand people's experiences of the service. This was because people had complex needs which meant that they were not able to tell us directly about their experiences. We visited the registered person’s administrative office of the service on 19 September 2017 in order to speak with the registered person and also to review records held there.

When we visited the office we met and spoke with the registered person, the registered person’s operational director and three members of the care staff team. As part of our inspection we also met with one relative and spoke by telephone with another. We did this in order to obtain direct feedback regarding their view of the quality of services their family members received.

We looked at the care records of two people that used the service and records directly related to the management and on-going development of the service. The information included the registered provider’s statement of purpose, procedures relating to how people were supported with their medicines, policies relating to staff and rotas which showed how staff were being deployed. We also viewed information related to the recruitment of two care staff, the supervision and staff support arrangements in place and the registered persons staff training plan.

Updated 1 November 2017

Witham Valley Care Group – DCA is registered to provide personal care to people who experience learning disabilities and autism and who live in their own homes. The registered person’s office is located in the village of Norton Disney. At the time of our inspection there were four people using the service. Two of the people received support related to the regulated activity of personal care.

Our announced inspection of the service was undertaken on 19 and 20 September 2017.

The last inspection took place on 10 September 2015. The result of the inspection was that the service was rated ‘Good.’ At this inspection we found the service remained ‘Good.’

The service was owned by a limited company. At the time of this inspection it was still being managed by one of the registered persons who was also the registered manager. Registered managers like 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. In this report when we speak about both the company the registered manager and the registered person we sometimes refer to them as being, ‘The registered persons.’

The registered persons and staff continued to have a clear understanding of how to manage risks to keep people safe and protect them from avoidable harm.

The registered persons completed appropriate recruitment checks before any newly recruited staff commenced their employment. Staff received an introduction to their role. Staffing levels were monitored and kept flexible in order to meet peoples existing and changing needs.

The registered persons had ensured there were clear arrangements to help people to take their medicines when this was needed. The competency of staff to safely administer medicines had been maintained and was regularly assessed and reviewed.

People were involved in making decisions about how they wished to be supported when any additional help was needed for people to make decisions we found that the registered persons and staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA).

Staff were caring and positive working relationships between staff and people who used the service and their relatives had been sustained. People’s privacy and dignity was maintained and the registered persons continued to work closely with a range of external health professional to ensure people’s on-going health needs were met. Confidential information was kept private.

People and their relatives understood how to raise any complaints or issues they had and were confident that if they raised any concerns the right actions would be taken to respond to and resolve them.

The registered persons continued to provide an open and inclusive culture within the service. People and their relatives had the opportunity share their views and opinions and were involved in planning and reviewing their care.

People and their families continued to be consulted about how best to develop the service and good team work was promoted by the registered persons. The registered persons maintained a range of quality checks and audits to monitor the service in order to keep identifying and making improvements to the overall services they provided.