Spectrum Days

Updated 6 June 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

One inspector carried out the site visit and an Expert by Experience made phone calls to relatives. 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.

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 registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 03 May 2023 and ended 04 May 2023. We visited the location’s office on 03 May 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

People using the service were not able to communicate by telephone with us to reflect their views. We spoke with 3 relatives of people using the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 6 members of staff including the manager, senior staff, and care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people's care records in detail, and multiple medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff support. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 6 June 2023

About the service

Spectrum Days is a domiciliary care agency which is registered to provide personal care and support to children and younger adults, living with a learning disability and complex health needs in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 5 people receiving personal care from the service. 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

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.

Right Support:

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. Staff were skilled in the management of medicines. Risk assessments were in place and provided enough detail for staff to provide safe care. Staff were recruited safely and in line with the providers policy.

Right Care:

People received care that was provided by trained staff who knew them well. Care records provided enough detail, so people received care which was person centred and relevant to their needs. Staff received specific training in how to support people with learning disabilities and autistic people.

Right Culture:

The provider had good oversight of the service. They promoted a positive culture where support and care of people was the highest priority. People received safe care in a timely way. The registered manager and staff worked with other professionals to achieve good outcomes for people.

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 requires improvement (published 29 January 2021) and there was a breach of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We undertook this focused inspection to check the provider had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

The overall rating for the service has changed from Requires Improvement to Good based on the findings of this inspection.

Follow up

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