About the service: Gloucestershire Domiciliary Care Branch is a domiciliary care, extra care and supported living service that was providing personal care to 27 adults at the time of the inspection.

The service provided personal care to adults with a range of support needs. The accommodation, which is not regulated by the Care Quality Commission, is known as Dora Matthews House.

People’s experience of using this service:

¿ We received positive feedback about the service and the support people received. One person told us, “I feel really safe and happy here. I don’t want to move again”.

¿ Staff were knowledgeable about safeguarding and understood provider policies for reporting and recording concerns. Staff knew when and how to involve external agencies.

¿ Risks to people had been assessed. Staff followed people’s support plans to keep them safe.

¿ People were protected from unsuitable staff through safe recruitment and induction practices.

¿ Staffing levels were maintained according to people’s funded hours. A ‘sleep-in’ staff member was available overnight to provide support in the event of an emergency.

¿ People received appropriate support to take and/or order their medicines safely.

¿ Health and safety and infection control risks were monitored. The registered manager supported people to address tenancy related issues with their landlord.

¿ People’s heath related needs and risks, such as diabetes, were managed with appropriate support from health care professionals.

¿ People were encouraged to live healthy lives. Where staff were responsible for preparing people’s meals, people were supported to eat a balanced diet. People could exercise regularly and many enjoyed the ‘Oomph!’ activity sessions.

¿ The service had a visible person-centred culture. People were valued as individuals and the service they received was tailored to their needs.

¿ People were supported by caring staff who enjoyed their work, felt supported in their role and whose performance was regularly checked.

¿ People were involved in planning their care and their relatives were informed, involved and consulted appropriately. People felt respected and listened to.

¿ People living at the service were encouraged to be part of the ‘Dora Matthews’ community and their psychological and social needs were considered.

¿ Staff had completed specialist training to enable them to support people’s needs.

¿ People benefitted from a service where inclusion was the norm.

¿ Effective quality monitoring systems were in place and regular audits and checks supported the registered manager to identify concerns promptly and take action to improve the service.

Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection the service was rated ‘Good’. (This report was published on 5 August 2016.)

Why we inspected: We inspected this service as part of our ongoing Adult Social Care inspection programme. This was a planned inspection based on the previous ‘Good’ rating. Previous CQC ratings and the time since the last inspection were also taken into consideration.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

This inspection took place on 18 March 2016 and was announced. Gloucestershire Domiciliary Care Branch is a domiciliary care, extra care and supported living service which provides personal care and support to people of all ages with physical needs as well as people who are living with dementia, have mental health problems, learning disabilities and sensory impairments. The service provides care and support to people who live in their own homes as well as people that live in accommodation on site. The on-site accommodation consisted of 44 flats and five bungalows. At the time of our inspection Gloucestershire Domiciliary Care were providing support to 25 people.

There was a registered managed 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.

People felt safe. Staff understood their responsibilities around protecting people from the risk of harm or abuse. People’s consent was sought before care and support was given.

People and those important to them were involved in planning their care and their care plans reflected their needs and were reviewed regularly. People knew how to make a complaint.

People’s medicines were managed safely and there were sufficient staff to meet their needs.

People told us the care staff team who supported them with their personal care were kind and caring. Staff had a good understanding of people’s preferences and history.

Recruitment checks had been carried out to ensure care staff were suitable to work with people.

Staff felt supported by the management team and had the training they required to meet people’s needs.

Quality assurance processes were in place to ensure care was delivered safely and effectively.

The provider supported the management team in ensuring they were kept up to date with best practice.