Archived: Voyage (DCA) South 2

Updated 29 August 2018

We carried out this 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 comprehensive inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 hours' notice of the inspection because it is small and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in. We also asked the registered manager to arrange for us to speak with staff and to seek consent from people to visit them in their own homes.

Inspection site visit activity took place on 21 June 2018. It included visits to two homes where we met seven people the service supports, observed people’s interactions with staff, reviewed care records and spoke with staff. We visited the office location on 22 June 2018 to see the registered manager and office staff; and to review records and policies and procedures.

One inspector carried out this inspection. Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider

Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also reviewed information we have about the service including notifications. A notification is a report about important events which the service is required to send us by law.

As part of this inspection we got feedback from four people using the service and observed staff supporting another three people. We reviewed four people's care records. We checked medicines records for five people. We reviewed the processes in place for managing medicines and the use of 'as required' and emergency medicines. We spoke with the registered manager, their deputy, the operations manager and five care staff. We looked at the recruitment records for four staff, staff training records, policies, complaints, accident and incident records and quality assurance systems. Following the inspection, we spoke with the relatives of three people the service supports. We sought feedback from commissioners and health and social care professionals who regularly work with the service.

Updated 29 August 2018

The inspection took place on the 21 and 22 June 2018 and was announced, as visits to people in their own homes needed to be arranged with them. The service is registered to provide personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting 16 people with learning disabilities and/or mental health needs across Gloucestershire and Herefordshire. Not everyone using Voyage (DCA) South 2 receives a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

This service provides care and support to people living in four ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live in their own home as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support. People lived in a range of houses and flats, some located in ordinary residential streets. The two homes we visited during this inspection were three and four bedroomed homes, with shared communal areas and a room where sleep-in staff slept at night.

At the inspection in April 2017 we rated the service ‘Requires Improvement’ overall. This was because we found recruitment practices did not meet required standards and we had not been notified of all safeguarding incidents occurring at the service as required by law. Following the last inspection, we asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do and by when, to improve the key question ‘Is the service safe?’ to at least good. The provider told us their action plan would be completed by 26 August 2017.

At this inspection on 21 and 22 June 2018 we rated the service ‘Good’ overall.

Why the service is rated Good:

At our June 2018 inspection, we found improvements had been made to recruitment practices but checks where staff had previously worked in care needed to be more robust. Despite this, there was no impact on people’s safety as the systems in place to induct and monitor staff performance protected people from poor practice. Staff knew how to safeguard people from harm. We recommended that the service review recruitment processes for staff who had worked in care before. We found improvements to notifications to CQC had been met and sustained.

People’s needs had been assessed and their support requirements and preferences were recorded in detail to provide staff with the guidance they needed to support people. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The service’s policies and systems supported this practice. Effective systems were in place to manage people’s medicines. When medicines errors occurred, staff underwent retraining and further competency checks. People were supported to access health care services and to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen. Outcomes for people were good and they were supported to live as fulfilling lives as possible. People described their home as, “a happy home”.

Enough staff were available to ensure people’s well-being and for people to participate in activities safely. Staff understood people’s needs and completed appropriate training to enable them to meet people’s individual needs. Staff felt supported and well trained and had access to the guidance they needed to support people effectively.

The registered manager had been in post since March 2018. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. They were registered to manage the service on 22 June 2018.

Effective quality monitoring and improvement systems were in place. The service had an open and progressive culture to improve people’s quality of life. People and their relative’s views were sought and acted upon if any concerns had been identified.