Background to this inspection
Updated
4 May 2023
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Inspection team
The inspection team consisted of 1 inspector and 1 Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. The service also provides live in 24/7 care to 17 people.
Registered Manager
This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.
At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. Inspection activity started on 22nd March 2023 and ended on 7th April 2023. We visited the locations office on 29th March 2023.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.
During the inspection
During the start of the inspection due to commitments of the registered manager and access to records and the registered office, we remotely reviewed documents such as,5 care plans, policies, audits, and call records, this being 24 hours’ after announcing the inspection. An Expert by Experience completed some telephone calls to people and their relatives on 3rd April 2023. We spoke with 2 people and 4 relatives. We visited the office location on 29th March 2023, to speak with the registered manager and we looked at 4 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including staff training records, policy and procedures and quality assurance records. We spoke with 3 staff members during the inspection.
Updated
4 May 2023
About the service
Dolphin Healthcare is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care services to people in their own homes, including children. At the time of our inspection, they were providing care and support to 17 people who receive regulated activity personal care.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.
Dolphin Healthcare services provide live in 24/7 care. This is where a carer lives in a person’s home for a set number of days to provide assessed care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People had care plans in place, however care plans were not always person centred and identifying specific needs of a person. During the inspection the registered manager took on our feedback and reviewed all care plans in place for people.
Systems were in place to safeguard people, staff had good understanding in recognising risks to people and actions they needed to take to safeguard people from abuse. Risk assessments were detailed, and control measures were in place to reduce the risk of harm.
Staff received training to enable them to have the skills and experience to support people with varied healthcare needs. Management was active in reviewing care packages and assessing any additional training required. We saw from records that partnership working with other agencies to meet the health needs of people in place and working well.
The provider had systems in place to record accidents and incidents. Records of lessons learnt were also reviewed and any learning for staff implemented by the management team. Staff members we spoke with understood how to report any incidents and who the appropriate person was to notify. Complaints were recorded by the provider, fully investigated and a response provided.
Staff members we spoke with felt supported by management and found the manager approachable. Staff also commented on the knowledge of the manager and how this helped in their roles.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was Good (Published 20th November 2019)
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about medicine management, reporting, and recording accident and incidents, staff member knowledge and skills to fulfil roles and provide care matching people’s needs, lack of auditing and management oversight. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.
For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.
The overall rating for the service has remained Good based on the findings of this inspection.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.