First inspection of a small domiciliary care agency rated Good across all five key questions, with strong cultural and language-matched care, safe recruitment, and an open, person-centred culture. Two recommendations were made regarding mental capacity assessments for specific decisions and meeting the Accessible Information Standard.
Concerns (3)
minor
Consent / capacity
: “Capacity assessments were not always clear about exactly what decisions were being assessed and did not contain full information about the nature of decisions”
minorCommunication with families: “The provider was not fully meeting the Accessible Information Standard. People using the service had limited English and in some cases could not read or write.”
minorRecord keeping: “Where regular repositioning was identified as a risk mitigation strategy this was taking place, however staff did not always clearly record how they had repositioned people.”
Strengths
· Care workers spoke people's language and understood cultural and religious needs
· Strong safeguarding systems with confident, trained staff
· Clear risk assessments with mitigation strategies including safe moving and handling
· Safe recruitment with DBS and pre-employment checks
· Regular supervision and competency spot checks; Care Certificate induction
Quality-Statement breakdown (20)
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk from abuseGood
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and managementGood
safe: Staffing and recruitmentGood
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
safe: Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
effective: Ensuring consent to care and treatment in line with law and guidanceGood
effective: Assessing people's needs and choices; delivering care in line with standards, guidance and the lawGood
effective: Staff support, training, skills and experienceGood
effective: Supporting people to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced dietGood
caring: Ensuring people are well treated and supported; respecting equality and diversityGood
caring: Respecting and promoting people's privacy, dignity and independenceGood
responsive: Meeting people's communication needsGood
responsive: Planning personalised careGood
responsive: Improving care quality in response to complaints or concernsGood
responsive: End of life care and supportGood
well-led: Promoting a positive culture that is person-centred, open, inclusive and empoweringGood
well-led: How the provider understands and acts on the duty of candourGood
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles, and understanding quality performance, risks and regulatory requirementsGood
well-led: Continuous learning and improving care; Working in partnership with othersGood