Care service description

Diamond Quality Care is a reablement service for people who have experienced acquired brain injury or strokes. It provides a domiciliary care service for ten people in addition to other services which are not subject to regulation by the Care Quality Commission.

Rating at last inspection

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found 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.

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Why the service is rated good

People were kept safe because potential risks to them had been assessed and action taken to mitigate them whilst still enabling them to experience a fulfilling lifestyle. Staff understood how to keep people safe and the service responded appropriately when any concerns arose.

The service had a robust recruitment procedure to ensure, as far as possible, that staff appointed had the right skills and approach to support people.

Staff retention was good, enabling people to build trusting relationships with staff. People were supported by staff who received regular training and ongoing support through quarterly supervision and annual appraisal.

People’s rights, privacy and dignity were supported and maintained by staff in the way they worked with them. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff treated people with kindness and patience and encouraged them to do as much for themselves as possible and consistent with the service’s reablement approach.

People’s needs were discussed with them and they were fully involved in agreeing their care plan and how support was to be provided. People were also involved in care plan reviews. They had the opportunity to take part in a range of social and therapeutic activities provided at the service’s headquarters as part of the support available to them.

The headquarters premises had been designed to promote accessibility and inclusion and a range of adaptations and equipment was used to maximise people’s access to the facilities. The service complied with the Accessible Information Standard, to ensure documents were in a format accessible to people receiving support.

The service was well managed by an experienced team who communicated the service’s values effectively to staff and others. Effective governance meant the service was monitored and any lessons from incidents or events were learned.

People’s views were sought regularly and acted upon to develop the service.

Further information is in the detailed findings below

This inspection took place on 19 January 2016 and was announced. We gave the registered manager 48 hours' notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to make sure someone would be in the office.

We last inspected the service in January 2014. At that inspection we found the service was compliant with the essential standards we inspected.

Diamond quality Care Services is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to 12 people living in their own homes. The service supports people with needs associates with acquired brain injury or strokes and associated physical disabilities. The domiciliary care service is part of an enablement service which also includes day care and other support which are not part of the registered regulated activity.

A registered manager was in post. 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.

The service kept people safe and was very much focused on enablement and reablement. Staff sought to involve people in their own care and maintain and improve their self-care skills.

People felt safe and well cared for and said they were involved in planning their care. People’s consent was sought before support was provided and staff treated them with respect and dignity.

People had confidence in the service to listen to and act on their views which were sought in a variety of ways.

Staff received an effective induction and ongoing training. They were supported through supervision meetings and annual appraisals and also had regular informal access to members of the management team.

The service had clear goals and these were made clear to staff. The registered manager sought to adapt and develop the service appropriately.

We found that people were supported by Diamond Quality Care Service as part of a range of care support including re-ablement, physiotherapy and day services. People supported at home also attended the re-ablement centre based on individually agreed care plans.

The care plans and associated documents were detailed and people or their family had been fully involved in planning the care package. People gave their consent to particular aspects of support. The documentation within people’s home files was not always reflected in the office copy. People were very happy with the support they received from Diamond Quality Care Service. One person said “I can’t fault them” and a relative told us “the whole service is fantastic”.

Where necessary people were supported with their medication and signed consent was obtained for this support. People, who wished to and were able, managed their own medication.

Appropriate recruitment checks were carried out on new staff prior to their appointment and they received a detailed induction as well as ongoing support and training.

The manager had systems to monitor the operation of the service and sought the views of the people supported and their families. People were very happy with the service they received. One relative told us “they work very well alongside other agencies”, another noted that there had been “major improvements in behaviour” since their relative had been supported by the agency.