DomCare is a domiciliary care agency rated Good overall following a focused inspection of Safe and Well-led domains, prompted by concerns about poor care practices and culture that were not substantiated. The service demonstrated safe care delivery, robust governance, and an improved Well-led rating (previously Requires improvement), with only a minor gap around communicating late-arrival notifications to people.
Concerns (1)
minor
Communication with families
: “People were happy with their call times although provided mixed feedback about whether they were informed if staff were running late. One person said, "They don't phone me, if they are going to be late."”
Strengths
· Risks associated with people's care and home environments were assessed and well managed, with regular reviews of risk assessments.
· Staff received safeguarding training and understood their responsibilities; one relative noted staff appropriately refused and reported a gift offer.
· An electronic monitoring system was in place to track staff arrival and departure times, enabling quick identification of late or missed calls.
· Staff completed medicines training and competency assessments to confirm safe administration.
· Quality monitoring systems including audits of care and medicine records and spot checks on staff practice were in place.
Quality-Statement breakdown (8)
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and management; Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
safe: Staffing and recruitmentGood
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles, and understanding quality performance, risks and regulatory requirementsGood
well-led: Promoting a positive culture that is person-centred, open, inclusive and empoweringGood
well-led: Continuous learning and improving care; Working in partnership with othersGood