Archived: Sheffield Care at Home Service

Updated 17 December 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The inspection took place on 20 October 2015. It was announced so that we could ensure the registered manager, and members of staff, were available to talk to. The inspection team consisted of an inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using, or caring for someone, who uses this type of service.

Before the inspection we checked the information that we held about the service and the service provider. We looked at notifications sent to us by the provider. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us by law.

During the inspection we spoke with three care staff, one senior member of care staff and the registered manager. As part of the inspection process we also spoke, by telephone, with eleven people who used the service. We looked at documentation, which included three people’s care plans, staff training files and records relating to the management of the service.

As part of the inspection process we also contacted two professionals who were involved with people who received services from this provider.

Updated 17 December 2015

An inspection took place on 21 October 2015. It was an announced inspection, which meant the provider knew we would be visiting. This was because we wanted to make sure that the registered manager would be available to support our inspection, or someone who could act on their behalf.

The service is run from an office in Sheffield and provides services to the people who live in the city and surrounding areas, on the day of our inspection the registered manager told us that they were supporting 44 people. At our previous inspection on 5 February 2014 we found that one of the regulations had not been complied with. This was in relation to assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision. Following that the provider sent us an action plan to tell us what improvements they were going to make. At this inspection we found that the actions we required had been completed and this regulation was now met.

Sheffield Care at Home Service provides care and support in the community. It provides a service to adults who have differing needs including: learning disabilities, physical disabilities, sensory impairment and dementia.

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 of the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People spoke positively about the service they received. They told us they felt safe and well cared for. They said they felt comfortable with the people who provided their support.

Staff were appropriately recruited and trained, however, the service was currently holding staff vacancies. They had all undergone a comprehensive induction programme and, where necessary, had received additional training specific to the needs of the people they were supporting. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities and spoke with compassion about the people they cared for and enthusiastically about the work they did. Staff demonstrated that they were aware of how to maintain the dignity of the people they were supporting.

The provider had detailed policies and procedures in place, including safeguarding, moving and handling and medicine management. This helped to ensure that people were supported in a safe manner.

Staff knew the people they were supporting and provided a personalised service. The service was flexible to people’s needs and additional visits to support people with hospital or doctors’ appointments were available. Individual care plans, based on a full assessment of need, were in place, which detailed how people wished to be supported. Risk assessments were in place to effectively identify and manage any potential risks to people. People were involved in decision making regarding the way their care and support was provided.

Quality monitoring systems were in place to effectively monitor the quality of service provision. People who used the service, their relatives and staff completed annual questionnaires to feed back any problems they had encountered and suggestions for improvements. The provider analysed the questionnaires and used that information to improve service provision.