Signa Care Group

Updated 1 March 2023

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 carried out by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

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

Registered manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was to request information about the service, people and relatives and to make sure the provider or registered manager would be available to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 28 October 2022 and ended on 2 December 2022. We visited the office on 1 December 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information we held about the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We sought feedback from the local authority contracts monitoring and safeguarding adults' teams and reviewed the information they provided. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

People were unable to speak with us about their experience of the care they received so we spoke with 2 relatives. We spoke with the registered manager and the recruitment officer. We also received feedback from 5 care staff.

We reviewed a range of records including 2 people’s care records and medicines records. We looked at recruitment records for 3 members of staff. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.

Updated 1 March 2023

About the service

Signa Care Group is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. 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 inspection 3 people were receiving personal care.

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

Relatives spoke positively about the service and felt it was safe and staff were caring. One relative said, “On the whole they (staff) are very chatty and friendly. We all talk, we laugh, we joke, we sing and dance. We have a really good relationship with them. We were very, very happy that Signa took over (their family member’s care) and we've been happy ever since.”

There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and safe recruitment processes were followed. There were systems in place to keep people safe. Risks to people’s health, safety and well-being were managed. Staff safeguarded people from abuse. Medicines were safely administered and managed. The provider learned from previous accidents and incidents to reduce future risks to people. The provider and staff protected people from the risk or spread of infection and followed government guidance in relation to COVID-19.

Staff received regular training and were supported through regular supervisions, spot checks and yearly appraisals. People’s needs were assessed before they received support. Staff supported people with their nutritional needs and to access a range of health care professionals. 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.

Staff were kind and compassionate and supported people in a respectful, dignified manner. Staff encouraged people to maintain their independence where safe and possible to do so. Relatives supported people to make decisions around their care and support. Staff spoke highly of people and were passionate about their roles.

The provider had an effective quality assurance process in place which included regular audits. Relatives were very happy with the service and felt it was well-managed. The registered manager promoted an open and honest culture and was approachable. People and relatives were regularly consulted about the quality of the service through surveys and reviews. Staff were involved in the ongoing development and improvement of the service through surveys and regular communication.

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 15 July 2021).

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 15 July 2021. 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 Regulation 17 (Good governance) and Regulation 19 (Fit and proper persons employed).

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

For the key question not inspected, we used the rating 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 Signa Care Group 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.