Castle House, Dawson Road

Updated 25 March 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

Castle House, Dawson Road is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a manager new in post who was not yet registered with the Care Quality Commission.

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 13 March 2023 and ended on 16 March 2023. We visited the location’s office on 13 March 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since they registered with the Care Quality Commission. This included any notifications (events which happened in the service that the provider is required to tell us about) and any feedback about the service.

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

We used information gathered as part of monitoring activity that took place on 18 November 2022 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements.

During the inspection

We spoke with the relative of the person using the service and had discussions with the manager and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We also had a telephone discussion with a staff member who was providing care and support and received written feedback via email from another member of staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included the person’s care records and risk assessments. We looked at the staff files for the two 2 staff members providing live in care and support. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, staff training, quality assurance information and feedback from people and staff were reviewed.

Updated 25 March 2023

Castle House, Dawson Road, is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

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. At the time of this inspection 1 person was receiving support with personal care.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

There were systems and processes in place to safeguard people from potential harm. Staff completed training about safeguarding and knew how to report abuse. Risks to people were assessed and measures were put in place to reduce them.

There were safe infection control procedures in place including enough supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff. There were systems in place to ensure, if it was required, people received their medicines safely and as prescribed. The person using the service was supported by regular, consistent staff who knew them and their needs well.

There were systems in place to ensure lessons were learned when things went wrong, so that improvements could be made to the service and the quality of care provided.

Staff received an induction and ongoing training that enabled them to have the skills and knowledge to provide effective care and meet people’s needs.

The person’s needs and choices were fully assessed before they received a care package. Their care plan included information needed to support them safely. The person using the service was supported to eat and drink enough to meet their dietary needs.

The person was 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.

The provider involved the person and their relative in the care planning process and reviews of their care. There was a complaints procedure which was accessible to the person and their relative, so they knew how to make a complaint. There had not been any complaints received at the time of our inspection, but systems were in place to address and investigate complaints.

The service had governance systems in place to ensure the service and quality of care provided were continuously assessed and monitored. A range of audits were in place to monitor the quality and safety of service provision.

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

This service was registered with us on 01 December 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.