Background to this inspection
Updated
16 July 2019
The inspection:
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 planned this inspection to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team:
One inspector and an assistant inspector carried out the inspection.
Service and service type:
Sanctuary Home Care Limited – March provides personal care to people living ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is rented and is the occupant’s own home. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support service.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that the both the registered manager and the provider is legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection:
This was an announced inspection. We gave the service 24 hours' notice of the first visit to the office because we needed to be sure that staff would be available.
What we did:
Before the inspection visit we looked at information we held about the service and used this information as part of our inspection planning. The information included notifications. Notifications are information on important events that happen in the service that the provider must let us know about. In July 2018 the provider had sent us a completed provider information return (PIR). The PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used information from this to assist us with our planning.
During our inspection we saw how the staff interacted with people who used the service. We spoke with four people who received personal care. We spoke with two team leaders, a member of care staff and the head of care. We looked at three people’s care records as well as other records relating to the management of the service, such as medicine administration records and internal audits.
Updated
16 July 2019
About the service:
Sanctuary Home Care Limited – March provides personal care to people living in ‘extra care’ housing.
People’s experience of using this service:
Whilst there is a manager registered for Sanctuary Home Care - March they have spent little time at the service. The head of care has taken responsibility for the day to day management of the service. People were unable to say who the registered managers was and referred to the head of care as the manager.
Staff felt supported by the care co-ordinators and the head of care. Staff were clear about their role to provide people with a high-quality service. Staff enjoyed working for at the service. One member of staff said, “It’s great here and we all get on really well as a team.”
A quality assurance system was in place which included an annual questionnaire to enable people, relatives and other interested parties to have a say about how the service was run and how to make any improvements. Audits and monitoring checks on various aspects of the service, including spot-checks on the way staff worked with people were carried out.
The head of care was aware of the various matters that the service was required by law to notify CQC about. Staff worked in partnership with other professionals to ensure that joined-up care was provided to people.
People felt safe and were protected as far as possible by staff who were competent to recognise and report any avoidable harm or abuse. Potential risks to people had been assessed and measures put in place to minimise the risks.
There were enough staff to make sure that people were safe, and their needs met in a timely manner. Pre-employment checks were completed on staff before they were assessed to be suitable to look after people who used the service. Staff understood their responsibility to report any accidents and incidents. These were analysed by the head of care on a monthly basis to identify if there were any themes.
Staff received induction, training and support including supervision and appraisals to enable them to do their job well.
People were supported to take their medicines by staff who were trained and had been assessed to be competent to administer medicines.
Assessments of people’s needs were carried out to ensure that the service could meet those needs in the way the person preferred. Technology such as an alarm call system was used via the wearing of pendants for all people using the service to enhance the care being provided.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.
Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity and supported people to remain as independent as possible. People and their relatives made positive comments about the staff. One person said, “The staff are wonderful and so caring.” Staff treated people kindly. Staff were knowledgeable about each person and knew their likes and dislikes. People were involved in planning their care and support.
Care plans gave staff detailed guidance relating to the care and support each person needed so that people received personalised care that was responsive to their needs.
A complaints process was in place and a complaint received had been dealt with in a timely manner. The provider had a policy and procedure in place to meet people’s end-of-life care needs when this was required.
Rating at last inspection:
At the last inspection we rated this service Good (report published on 9 December 2016).
Why we inspected:
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up:
We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we might inspect sooner
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk