St Anne’s Community Services York – DCA provides personal care to people living in their own homes; providing assistance and support to people to help them maintain and improve their independence. The service provides care and support to people who have a learning disability or mental health difficulties. At the time of this inspection, the service was providing support to 41 people. Three of whom were in receipt of personal care.

Not everyone using St Anne’s Community Services York – DCA receives regulated activity. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’ in their own home; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. The service was providing personal care to three people in their own homes.

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

People were overwhelmingly positive about the support they received and the relationships they had developed with support staff and the management team. They consistently described a service which was person centred. People, relatives and supporting professionals were encouraged to give feedback about the service and spoke highly about the care provided.

There was a focus on people’s strengths and a positive joint approach to risk management. People were encouraged to focus on what they wanted to achieve from their support. They were placed at the centre by their support staff, management team and the wider organisation.

People were supported to engage in activities which were of importance to them and to form links with their local communities in order to promote their emotional well-being. Two people were being supported on holiday which was important to them.

Staff were provided with a high level of support to enable them to do their jobs to a high standard. They described feeling well supported by the management team.

People trusted their support staff and were provided with safe care and support. There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs. Staff were safely recruited. Staff understood how to recognise abuse and to report this.

When people’s needs changed the service was able to respond flexibly. For people with deteriorating health conditions the planning of future care, and in some cases, their end of life care was considered with warmth, compassion and kindness.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

Quality assurance systems were well developed and embedded in practice.

There was a commitment to ongoing service improvement and a culture of continuous development across all levels of the organisation. Staff were highly motivated and committed to providing an excellent standard of care and support.

Only two people were receiving personal care services at the time of our visit. The combination of this and the complex needs of the people using the service meant that we were only able to speak to one person during this review. Because of this we used other methods to help us gather information about people’s experiences of using this service, including looking at the results from a recent quality assurance survey carried out by the provider.

We found that people were involved in making decisions about their care wherever possible. Where people did not have capacity or needed support to make decisions appropriate arrangements had been put in place. Suitable arrangements for planning and reviewing the care people needed were also in place.

Staff were recruited safely, with the relevant checks being completed before they started work. People who used the service were also involved in the recruitment of their staff.

People knew how to make a complaint about the service if they needed too. Staff knew how to report any concerns they had and felt confident that their manager would listen and respond appropriately.

Only one person was seen during the visit. They indicated that the service met their needs. They also indicated that the staff followed their care plan and provided support in a way that respects their dignity and welfare.

The inspection took place on the 9 and 27 November 2015. The inspection was unannounced. The provider was compliant with all of the regulations assessed during our last inspection of the agency which took place in August 2013.

St Anne’s Community Services - York provides services to people with a wide range of complex needs, in community settings, such as people's own homes and supported living houses. The service provides domiciliary care and support services from the registered office location, at Clifton Moor on the outskirts of York. At the time of this visit three people received personal care services from the York Domiciliary Care Agency (DCA), which included support with bathing, showering or hair washing. Others received social support services, which included social activities for example outings and shopping. All visits were for a minimum of one hour.

During our inspection the registered manager was present. 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.

People told us that they felt safe and we saw that the agency had systems in place to ensure that risks to people’s safety were identified and addressed. Emergency procedures and systems were in place to support people in the event of an emergency.

People spoke positively of the staff and said that there were sufficient staff to care for them. People told us that calls were on time. Appropriate recruitment checks were carried out on staff before they started work. Staff were matched with specific people so that they could build up relations and know and understood how their care should be delivered.

People received support with their medicines where necessary. Appropriate risk assessments were completed and training provided to staff to ensure that they following the agencies policies and procedures.

Staff received appropriate induction, training and supervision to support them in carrying out their roles effectively. This included client specific training so that staff could deliver safe care to people.

Staff received support from their manager and their performance was regularly reviewed to check that care being delivered was of a high standard.

People were asked to consent to any care or treatment. They were involved in discussions regarding their care package and were able to suggest any changes or improvements. Staff had received training in The Mental Capacity Act 2005 and they understood the importance of people being supported to make decisions for themselves.

People received support with eating and drinking. Support was varied dependent on their individual circumstances. Appropriate professional advice was gained where necessary.

People received support to attend appointments and maintain good health. People’s health needs were kept under review so that any changes could be quickly identified.

Staff were caring and they knew the people they supported. People were treated with dignity and staff were mindful of this when carrying out their work.

The service was responsive and flexible to people’s changing needs. People had detailed person centred care records in place to record how their care should be delivered. They were supported to express their views and opinions and were supported to be as independent as possible.

People knew how to complain and there were policies and procedures in place to support this. Concerns were dealt with immediately which meant that formal complaints were rarely raised.

The registered manager carried out home visits to people and sought their feedback so that the service could be reviewed and improvements made where necessary. Meetings were held to seek the views of people and staff. Surveys were also sent out to gain people’s views. There were good management systems in place to support the effective running of the service.

People spoke highly of the manager and said how approachable they were. Staff spoke of a positive culture and said they enjoyed working for the agency.