Sahara Community Care Services - Luton

Updated 8 September 2017

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 is 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 4 July 2017, when we visited the offices. We gave 24 hours’ notice to the service because the location provides domiciliary care and we wanted to be sure a member of the management team would be available. We carried out telephone interviews of people who used the service and relatives on 4 August 2017 and also spoke with staff on the 4 August 2017.

The inspection team consisted of one inspector from the Care Quality Commission.

Before the inspection the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This 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 also reviewed information we held about the service in the form of notifications received from the service.

We attempted to call two people who used the service but were only able to speak with one person. We also attempted to call four staff but were only able to make contact with one member of care staff and the registered manager who we spoke with on the day of the inspection. We looked at records held by the service, including four care files and four staff files. We reviewed other records in relation to the overall monitoring of the service.

Updated 8 September 2017

We carried out the announced inspection on 4 July and 4 August 2017.

Sahara Community Care Services provides personal care and support services to adults living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection the provider was supporting up to four people of which two were supported with a regulated activity.

The service has a Registered Manager in place. 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 in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The provider followed the local authority policy and guidance when dealing with safeguarding people from harm and the staff we spoke with demonstrated a good understanding of safeguarding issues.

There was a robust recruitment procedure to help ensure the staff recruited were suitable to work with the people using the service.

Staffing levels were sufficient to provide the level of care required.

Risk assessments were in place and were regularly reviewed and updated.

Staff were trained to administer medicines safely and had undertaken further training to ensure they could deal with a number of health issues. Regular checks were undertaken to help ensure on-going competence in this area.

Staff demonstrated a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities. The service demonstrated a commitment to staff training, which was on-going and regular refresher training were undertaken.

Supervisions were undertaken regularly and considered important in offering an opportunity for discussion between staff and management.

Team meetings were regularly undertaken, giving staff the opportunity to discuss any issues and to share good practice examples.

Care files were clear and comprehensive and contained relevant health and personal information.

The service was flexible and responsive to changing needs, desires and circumstances.

Confidentiality was respected and independence was promoted.

Communication with relatives was on-going throughout the duration of their relative’s involvement in the service.

Comments were encouraged formally and informally and there was a complaints policy in place. Literature given out to families gave the information and opportunity for people to raise concerns or make suggestions.

Feedback was regularly sought from families and people using the service. The service listened and took action to address any concerns and suggestions put forward by people who used the service and their families.

A number of audits were undertaken to ensure processes were being followed, and to monitor the overall quality of the service.