Archived: Sanctuary Home Care Ltd - Sheffield

At the time of this inspection Sanctuary Home Care Ltd - Sheffield was supporting 259 people.

The service did not have a registered manager. The registered manager left three weeks prior to this inspection. A new manager commenced in post four weeks prior to this inspection and was provided with a week’s handover from the previous registered manager. The new manager has applied to register with us.. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The manager had worked at the service for approximately four weeks prior to this inspection.

Sanctuary Home Care Ltd - Sheffield had been operating in Sheffield since 2013. However, the registered provider moved address and as a result was registered with us on 8 March 2016. This inspection is the first inspection of the new registration.

The regional manager informed us that the service will cease to operate in April 2017. The service had written to the local authority advising of their intent to withdraw from providing personal care, with effect from 5 April 2017. Letters had been sent to people receiving a service informing them that the local authority would find them an alternative provider. Consultation events for staff had been arranged. The regional manager confirmed that an application to deregister will be undertaken once arrangements were in place for people to move to alternative providers.

The registered provider had implemented a voluntary embargo on all new care packages as they had identified the need for improvement in some areas. The regional manager met with the local authority on a fortnightly basis and provided them with a weekly action plan to show plans were in place and being acted upon to improve the operation and delivery of the service.

This inspection took place on 12 and 13 December 2016 and short notice was given. We told the regional manager two working days before our visit that we would be coming. We did this because we needed to be sure that the manager would be available and to arrange for some care staff to visit the office during our inspection so we could speak with them.

Most people supported by the service and their relative’s spoke positively of the staff that visited them. Everyone said they felt safe with the staff.

We found systems were not in place to make sure people received their medicines safely. Staff had not been observed to assess their competency to administer medicines. Medicine administration records had not all been fully completed to show medicine had been administered as required.

Staff recruitment procedures ensured people’s safety was promoted.

Staff were provided with relevant induction and training to make sure they had the right skills and knowledge for their role. Staff were not provided with supervision and appraisal at appropriate frequencies for their development and support.

Some people said the timing of visits did not always meet their needs and they did not always have regular care staff visiting them all of the time. Other people said they had a group of regular staff who generally arrived on time. People said staff usually stayed the full length of time identified as needed.

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

Whilst each person had a care plan, these did not always accurately reflect their needs or the care provided.

The complaints procedure had not been adhered to in line with the registered provider’s policy. Some complaints had not been recorded to provide an audit trail of any actions taken in response to the complaint or the outcome of the complaint.

Some people receiving support, and their relatives or representatives said they could speak with staff if they had any worries or concerns and felt they would be listened to. Other people told us they had found the office staff less reliable and responsive when they had reported any concerns.

There were limited systems in place to check and monitor the quality of the service provided. Audits on some records had not taken place to make sure full and safe procedures were adhered to. Systems to obtain people’s views were limited. People using the service and their relatives had not been asked their opinion via surveys so that the provider could act on these. Some telephone surveys had been undertaken but the results of these had not been audited to identify any areas for improvement.

We found breaches in five of the regulations of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. These were breaches in regulations, 9: Person centred care, 12: Safe care and treatment, 16:Receiving and acting on complaints, 17: Good governance and 18: Staffing

You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.