Seaars Care Ltd

Updated 24 June 2022

Inspection team

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 2 days’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we held about the service, including recent contact with the service, their registration details and information held at Companies House. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

Inspection activity started on 11 May and ended on 13 May 2022. We visited the location’s office on 12 May 2022.

We spoke with the registered manager and looked at records of care and support for three people who used the service. We reviewed records of recruitment, training and supervision for three care workers and records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

We made calls to one person who used the service, two family members and two care workers. We reviewed further records we had requested from the provider such as policies and procedures.

Updated 24 June 2022

About the service

Seaars Care is a domiciliary care agency. The service provides personal care to older people and younger people with physical disabilities. At the time of our inspection there were three people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People spoke of being treated with politeness and respect by their care workers. People told us they benefitted from receiving consistent support by a regular care worker and had built positive relationships with them and the registered manager.

The service effectively assessed risks to people’s wellbeing and had suitable systems in place to mitigate and monitor these. Staff were recruited safely with enough care workers to meet people’s needs.

Care workers told us they felt well supported in their roles and staff received induction and training to help them to develop the right skills for their roles. The registered manager carried out spot checks and observations of staff and engaged positively with people and their families to check care was delivered to a good standard and to address any concerns or complaints about the service. People told they could always reach the registered manager if they had concerns or if they needed a change to their service.

Plans were detailed about people’s needs and desired outcomes for their care and care workers demonstrated how they delivered care in line with people’s wishes.

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

The agency had not been operating for long and continued to develop systems and processes to monitor and assess the quality of people’s care. Aspects of audit and monitoring were suitable for the current operations of the service and the provider understood how these needed to develop in future. We have made a recommendation about how the provider assesses people’s communication needs to ensure written information is given to people in a format suitable for them.

For more information, please read the detailed findings section of this report. If you are reading this as a separate summary, the full report can be found on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection:

We registered this service on 4 March 2021 and this was the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.