About the service:

Voyage (DCA) Marlborough House is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own flats. It provides a service to people with a learning disability, older people, people with physical disabilities, people that have sensory impairment and younger adults. At the time of the inspection there were eight people receiving care and support from the service.

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

People’s experience of using this service:

Care and support was tailored to meet the needs of individuals and delivered to ensure flexibility, choice and continuity of care. People were supported safely with their personal care by staff that knew them well. People were supported to be independent and their choices and preferences were respected and known to staff. Staff were caring, kind and respectful. People’s privacy and dignity was promoted.

People had support plans and risk assessments in place to meet the needs of individuals that gave staff guidance to effectively support them. Staff supported people with their individual preferences and people’s needs were met.

Lessons were learnt went things went wrong and systems were improved if needed. The managers were responsive and approachable to people that used the service and to the staff. The registered manager had a clear understanding of their responsibilities of their registration with us.

Rating at last inspection:

At the last inspection the service was rated as; Requires Improvement (report published 12 June 2017) and was in breach of Regulation 18 of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009. At this inspection we found the service was no longer in breach and the overall rating had improved.

Why we inspected:

This was a scheduled inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive.

This inspection was carried out on 10 May 2017.

Voyage (DCA) Marlborough House is registered to provide personal care and support for people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection eight people received care and support from this service.

There was a registered manager 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 provider had not notified the Care Quality Commission of safeguarding concerns, injuries sustained by people, or incidents involving the police as they were required to do..

There were systems to measure the safety and quality of the service. Checks and audits were completed regularly to make sure that good standards of care were maintained. However at times when staffing levels were lower the provider did not have an overview of how staff were deployed.

Relatives felt that staff were kind and caring in the support they provided. Staff understood how to recognise and protect people from abuse and received regular training around how to keep people safe. Staff were not recruited until checks had been made to make sure they were suitable to work with the people that used the service.

People were supported by staff and management who were approachable and listened to any concerns that people or relatives had.

Relatives were confident that staff had the knowledge, skills and experience to provide effective care and support. People’s care records contained the relevant information for staff to follow to meet people’s health needs and manage risks appropriately. Care plans and risk assessments were clear and updated quickly if people’s needs changed.

People were involved in the care and support that they received. Relatives told us that people had choice over the support they received with nothing being done without their consent. Staff understood the principles of consent and delivering care that was individual to the person.

Staff responded quickly if someone was unwell and supported people to access other health professionals when needed. People were supported to take their medicine safely and when they needed it.