22 April 2015
During a routine inspection
Direct Health (Coventry) is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care support to people in their own homes. At the time of our visit the agency supported 47 people.
We inspected Direct Health (Coventry) on 20 April 2015. We told the provider we were coming so they could arrange for staff to be available to talk with us about the service.
The service has a registered manager. 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. At the time of this inspection the registered manager was on maternity leave. Another manager had been appointed to cover in the registered manager’s absence, and was in the process of applying to register with us.
People and their relatives told us they felt safe with their care workers from Direct Health (Coventry). Care staff were trained in safeguarding people and understood how to protect people from abuse. Checks were carried out prior to staff starting work to ensure their suitability to work with people who used the service.
There were enough suitably trained staff to deliver safe and effective care to people. People told us staff had the right skills and experience to provide them with care and support. Management and staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), and supported people in line with these principles.
Care plans and risk assessments contained relevant information for staff to help them provide the personalised care people required. Most people said they were involved in their care and were asked for their views and opinions about the service they received.
Most people were happy with the service they received and said they had regular care workers. However some people said they would like more consistency in care workers. People told us they knew how to make a complaint if they needed to. Staff were confident they could raise any concerns or issues with the manager, knowing they would be listened to and acted on.
There were processes to monitor the quality of the service provided and understand the experiences of people who used the service. This was through direct feedback from people, returned surveys and a programme of checks and audits.