Domiciliary Care Experts

Updated 15 May 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

The inspection team consisted of two inspectors and one Expert by Experience who spoke to people on the telephone. 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. The service was also registered for nursing care; however, they were not providing nursing care to people at the time of the inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. However, they had recently left the service and a new manager has recently started. The new manager was in the process of applying for registration. This means the provider is legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period notice of the inspection. We needed to be sure the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection. We also needed to arrange to speak with people and for documents to be sent to us.

Inspection activity started on 19 April 2021 and ended on 27 April 2021. We visited the office location on 22 April 2021.

What we did before inspection

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 five people and seven relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with nine members of staff including the regional manager, manager, office staff, senior care workers and care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and part of one other person’s

records. We reviewed multiple medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 15 May 2021

About the service

Domiciliary Care Experts is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people living in their own home. At the time of the inspection, 51 people were using the service. Most people using the service were older people. However, the agency serves the whole population and a small number of people were young people with learning needs. The service was also registered for nursing care; however, they were not providing nursing care to people at the time of the inspection.

Not everyone who drew on 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

Feedback from people and their relatives was positive. One person said, “I am very happy with the service and have no concerns. This is the best thing about the service, it’s very well run and excellent.” One relative said, “The carers are very supportive. They treat [my relative] beautifully. I know [they] feel very safe.”

People were protected from the risk of abuse. There was enough staff to support people and people told us staff arrived on time. Staff knew how to support people safely where there were risk from health conditions or where equipment such as hoists were used.

There were sufficient levels of PPE and people told us staff wore this. Staff had appropriate infection control training. Medicines were managed safely. When incidents and accidents had occurred, these had been reported and action was taken to reduce the risk of re-occurrence.

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. For example, Staff had the information they needed to support people to make choices. Staff knew people had the right to make unwise decision.

People’s needs had been assessed. Where people needed support with eating and drinking this was in place. Staff had completed the training they needed to provide safe and effective support. Staff undertook an induction when they joined the service and received regular supervision. Where people needed support to access healthcare services this was in place.

People were supported by caring staff. Staff knew how to protect people’s privacy and dignity and promote people’s independence. Staff had time to talk with people and listen to them. People were involved in making decisions about their own care.

The support provided to people was focused around people’s individual needs. Care plans were regularly updated. People and their relatives were involved in these reviews. Where people had raised complaints, these had been addressed appropriately. Appropriate support was provided to people at the end of their lives.

Staff and people told us that the service was well managed. People and staff were asked for their views and had been listened to. Where changes were needed these had been undertaken. Regular audits of people’s care and support were undertaken. The service worked in partnership with other organisations to improve outcomes for people were this was needed. The manager had oversight of staff performance. Spot checks were undertaken to ensure staff were following correct procedures and practices.

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 20/06/2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the length of time since the service registered with us.

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.