The Sanctuary Community Care

Updated 24 May 2022

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 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 completed by one inspector.

Service and service type

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

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure the registered manager would be available to support the inspection. We also needed to gain consent to contact people using the service, relatives and staff by telephone and email.

The inspection activity started on 26 April 2022 and ended with visiting the site office to review records on 28 April 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We also looked at other information we had received about the service from the provider. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people using the service and two relatives about their experience of the care received from the service. We spoke with the registered manager and one staff member and received written feedback from five care staff about their experience of working for the service.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records. Two staff recruitment files and a variety of other records relating to the management and oversight of the service, including staff training and supervision records and the providers policies and procedures.

After the inspection

We spoke with one staff member and reviewed quality assurance records.

Updated 24 May 2022

About the service

The Sanctuary Office is a domiciliary care provider. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection 13 people were receiving personal care from the service.

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

People were supported by regular care staff that had built trusting and supportive relationships with people using the service. We received positive comments such as, “I would definitely recommend The Sanctuary to others, the care [Family member] receives is absolutely brilliant.” And, “The staff are so professional, the care is very person centred, the staff have brought [Family member] out of their shell, [Family member] looks forward to their visits.”

Risks to people's health and wellbeing were assessed. Care plans and risk assessments provided staff with information and guidance on how to safely manage the risks.

Where the provider took on the responsibility people's medicines were safely managed. Infection control practice was embedded into the service.

Staff received safeguarding training and understood their roles and responsibilities in protecting people from all forms of abuse and avoidable harm. Staff were safely recruited and trained to meet the needs of people using the service. Supervision and support systems were in place to ensure staff were supported to fulfil their roles and responsibilities. The staffing arrangements ensured people received care and support according to their assessed needs.

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. People's independence was promoted, and their privacy and dignity were respected by staff.

People and relatives were involved in the initial planning and ongoing care reviews. People's views were continuously sought to help drive service improvement.

The registered manager and the staff team worked in partnership with health and social care professionals to ensure people received care following a consistent approach.

The registered manager was committed to providing a service that promoted person centred care. Systems and processes were in place to continually monitor quality and safety and oversight of the service. The registered manager understood their legal responsibilities and continually worked towards driving improvement at the service.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 26 September 2019). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 16 August 2019 and breaches of legal requirements were found.

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve, in regulations 12: Safe care and treatment, 17: Good governance and 19: Fit and proper persons employed of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met the legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Effective and Well-led which contain those requirements.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Sanctuary Office on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Follow up

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