Archived: Voyage (DCA) Portsmouth

We also used this inspection to answer our five key questions; is the service safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

Below is a summary of what we found. The summary describes what we observed, the records we looked at and what people who used the service and the staff told us.

Is the service safe?

People we spoke with told us they felt safe while being supported. They told us the care staff were very good. One person also told us "I always feel safe with them". None of the seven people we spoke with had any concerns about the support they received.

The registered manager told us that there was a whistle blowing policy and procedure in place and staff were aware of the policy.

We saw people had risk assessments in place. The agency used a traffic light system to establish the likelihood and the potential degree of harm the risk presented. We saw that where a risk had been identified there was information for staff on how the risk could be minimised.

We found that the skill mix of staff who worked for the agency was sufficient to meet people's needs at all times.

Is the service effective?

Each person had a plan of care and support. We saw that support plans explained what the person could do for themselves and what support they needed from staff. Staff told us that the care and support plans gave them the information they needed to provide the level of support people required.

People we spoke with told us they were happy with the care and support they received from Voyage (DCA) Portsmouth. People we spoke with told us that there was always someone around they could talk to and they said they knew how to contact staff if they needed to. One person told us 'The staff are brilliant'. They help me in so many ways.

Is the service caring?

We observed staff supporting people and care staff we spoke with were aware of people's needs. Staff were also aware of people's preferences in how they wanted thier care to be delivered. We saw that staff offered advice and support but they enabled people to make their own choices and decisions.

We observed that staff spoke to people appropriately and used their preferred form of address; We saw that people and staff got on well together.

Is the service responsive?

Each person used the direct payment system to fund individual support hours for themself. For example one person paid for 21 hours of support each week. This was broken down into 2.5 hours of support each day except Saturday. Support was normally given between 10.am and 1230.pm. However on Saturday the person had six hours of support which was flexible to meet their needs. The support could be in the afternoon to go to the pictures or in the evening to go to the pub. People we spoke with told us that this system worked well for them. One person said 'I get my support when I want it'.

People we spoke with told us they received the support they needed in the way they preferred and said staff listened to them and respected the choices they made. One person told us 'I meet with my key worker every week and we go through what is working for me and we change things if we need to'

Is the service well led?

Voyage (DCA) Portsmouth had a policy and procedure for quality assurance. The provider organisation had produced a quality assurance audit tool. This was based on each of the CQC outcome areas. Staff at each of the homes where people were supported completed the quality assurance tool every three months and these were then audited by the registered manager. If any issues were identified an action plan was put in place to address any shortfalls.

The registered manager carried out a range of quality checks and audits and these included: care and support plans, key worker reviews, health and safety audits and audits of people's money and finances.

People who used the service, healthcare professionals. relatives of people who used the service and staff were asked for their views about the service provided by Voyage (DCA) Portsmouth. These surveys were able to be submitted anonymously if required

Regular staff, and service user meetings took place and people told us that the manager visited the services regularly and that they could speak with the manager at any time if they had and concerns or issues they wanted to discuss.