DCA Apollo House

Updated 8 August 2018

We carried out this comprehensive inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 11 and 12 July 2018 and was announced. In accordance with our guidance, we gave the provider 48 hours' notice that we were undertaking this inspection; this was to ensure that the registered manager and staff were available to answer our questions during the inspection. The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector. They were supported on the second day of the inspection by a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.

Before this inspection we reviewed the completed provider information return (PIR); this is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also contacted the relevant local authority contract monitoring teams and the local Healthwatch in order to gather their views about the service.

On the first day of the inspection, we visited the registered office and spoke with the registered manager and one staff member. On the second day of the inspection, we visited the satellite office at the complex of flats from which the domiciliary care service was delivered and spoke with two people who used the service and a staff member.

We reviewed a range of records about people’s care and the way the service was managed. These included the care and medicines administration records for four people, staff training records, six staff recruitment files, staff supervision and appraisal records, minutes from meetings, quality assurance audits, incident and accident reports, complaints and compliments records and records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 8 August 2018

RNID Action on Hearing Loss Apollo House is a specialist domiciliary care agency. It provides a range of care and support services for deaf, deaf blind and hard of hearing adults who may have additional needs such as learning disabilities, mental health needs or physical health problems. At the time of the inspection there were six people using the service, five of whom lived in a sheltered accommodation complex in Preston.

At our last inspection in July 2016, we rated the service Good although we identified a breach of regulations in relation to the recruitment of staff. At this inspection, we found the required improvements had been made. The evidence continued to support the rating of Good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

The recruitment procedures had improved and were now sufficiently robust to protect people from the risk of unsuitable staff.

People received safe care. The staff we spoke with were aware of how to safeguard adults at risk of abuse. There were safe processes and practices in place for the management and administration of medicines.

People told us there were always sufficient staff available to meet their needs and support them to attend activities of their choice. Staff used a range of methods to communicate with people, including British Sign Language (BSL), pictures and the written word. People told us all staff were competent in the use of BSL.

Staff told us they received the induction, training and supervision necessary for them to carry out their roles effectively. People told us staff knew them well and understood their wishes and preferences in relation to the support they needed.

People told us staff respected their right to privacy and dignity. They told us staff took their time when providing support and encouraged them to be as independent as possible.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way; the policies and systems at the service supported this practice.

People lived in their own homes and were therefore able to make their own choices about the food they ate. However, staff told us they would always encourage people to make healthy choices. This inspection was carried out during a period of very hot weather and we noted the registered manager had taken action to remind people of the importance of remaining hydrated during this period.

People’s needs were assessed before they started using the service and this information was used to develop a series of care plans and risk assessments. Records showed that all care plans and risk assessments had been regularly reviewed.

We saw evidence that people had been involved in reviewing their care and support needs. We saw that staff were responsive to people’s changing needs and involved health professionals as necessary.

People were encouraged and supported to be involved in a range of activities to help reduce social isolation and maintain their well-being.

People who used the service, staff and community based professionals were positive about the way the service was run. The values of the organisation were well understood by staff and they told us how these were put into practice in their day to day support of people.

Audits and checks of the service were completed regularly. We found the checks completed were effective in ensuring that appropriate levels of quality and safety were maintained at the service.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.