Dementia Care & Support at Home Limited

Dementia Care Support at Home is a domiciliary care service which provides personal care to people living in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and/or support with eating and drinking. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of this inspection the service was supporting approximately 120 people.

Systems and process for safeguarding were operated effectively. There was a clear learning culture within the service, based on openness, honesty and transparency. People were involved in managing risk with new and emerging risks responded to in a timely way. Systems and processes for managing accidents, incidents and untoward events were managed effectively.

Processes were in place to ensure the supply of medicines arrived on time. Supporting information to assist staff in administering medicines clearly showed who was responsible for the ordering, collecting and storage of medicines and whether any family members would be involved in the administration of medicines. Staff were trained and were assessed as competent to administer medicines safely.

There were enough staff to meet people’s needs. Staff told us the training they received enabled them to fulfil their roles effectively.

Before people started using the service their needs were assessed. Staff and teams worked well together both internally and with external agencies. This was confirmed by the positive feedback we received from professionals who worked with the service.

Consent to provide care was routinely obtained by staff. Where appropriate, people were supported to access GP and primary care services. We saw evidence of how staff had recognised and responded effectively to a healthcare emergency involving a person who used the service.

Without exception, feedback was complimentary about the registered manager and leadership and management of the service. Systems for audit, quality assurance and questioning of practice were operated effectively. Feedback from people was actively obtained by the service and clearly valued by the registered manager. People were kept up to date about developments and improvements via regular informative newsletters from the service.