DCA Essex

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

We did not look at all quality statements for Responsive at this assessment. The service was responsive. This rating uses some scores from the previous inspection. The provider was responsive to people’s needs and assessed, reviewed, and appropriately adjusted their care plans as required.

This service scored 64 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

People were supported by a staff team who cared about their happiness and worked in a person centred way and treated them as equals. One person named a staff member they liked and explained the staff member’s pets as one reason they liked the staff member. We observed staff adapting their support to respond to a person who was feeling distressed, offering them a distraction that helped them feel calm. One person told us how staff supported them to do a wide range of activities for example, shopping, visiting the garden centre, swimming and pottery. Another person said, “I like going to the weekly disco and having my friends come to visit.” The care and support we observed from staff on the day of assessment was respectful, dignified and person centred. We observed staff knowing people well, using people’s preferred names and adapting their approach to suit the needs of the person they were supporting to ensure the best outcomes.

Staff understood person centred care. One staff member said, “Person centred care means care or support that is based on the individual’s needs and preferences, one person’s needs will be different to the next persons.” Another staff member said, “I adapt myself and develop my knowledge of the person so I can support them to do the things they like, for example, I support someone who likes music and travelling in our vehicle.” Staff told us they offered choices and encouraged independence; this was reflected in the care we observed. Care plans were developed with people and a key worker system was used to help update care plans and involve people’s families where appropriate. Management audits identified any shortfalls, and these were added to an action plan for improvement

We did not look at Care provision, Integration and continuity during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

People were provided with information that included but was not limited to, how to give feedback on care, the people involved in the care, advocacy, health and wellbeing, quality assurance, statement of purpose and additional services.

The provider had processes to provide information to people this included a policy on accessible communication.

The provider had accessible information how to make complaints and staff listened to people’s views. We noted examples where people had raised concerns about their living environment and staff had supported them to get repairs completed. The staff team supported people with varied communication needs, some people used non-verbal communication through body language. Staff told us they observed body language to ensure they understood if the person was enjoying the activity or not. Where appropriate, people had house meetings where they shared ideas and planned events like summer parties. One person told us they were involved in the health and safety checks within their home and told us how they checked the fire system weekly.

We did not look at Equity in access during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

A staff member said, “Achieve Together does as much as possible to support people to achieve activities and goals, no day is the same for people we support. I see people are always smiling.”

People were supported to access a wide range of activities based on their choices. The provider had systems to ensure people's feedback was received. Staff provided people with person-centred care and people were given choices and encouraged to follow their interests. People were encouraged to maintain contact with friends and relatives so that their independence was promoted, and the risk of social isolation was minimised, this included inviting friends for dinner.

We did not look at Planning for the future during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.