Samfos Health

Updated 10 July 2018

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.

This inspection took place on 21 and 22 June 2018 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in. The inspection team was made up of two adult social care inspectors.

The inspection activity started on 21 June 2018 and ended on 22 June 2018. We visited the office location on 21 June 2018 to see the registered manager, office staff and care workers; and to review care records and policies and procedures. On 22 June 2018 we visited one person at home to gain their views on the service they received. Over both days we spoke with people who received a service from Samfos Health and their relatives over the telephone.

Due to the timescales of this inspection we did not ask the registered provider to complete a Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

Prior to this inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service, which included correspondence we had received and any notifications submitted to us by the service. A notification must be sent to the Care Quality Commission every time a significant incident has taken place. For example, where a person who uses the service suffers a serious injury.

Prior to this inspection we contacted staff at Healthwatch Sheffield and they had no concerns recorded. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We also contacted members of Sheffield City Council contracts and commissioning service. They told us they had no current concerns about the service.

During the inspection we spoke to three people to gain their views on the service they received. We spoke to another three relatives. We spoke with the registered manager, the service manager and four members of care staff. We spent time looking at written records, which included six people’s care records, five staff personnel files and other records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 10 July 2018

We carried out this inspection on 21 and 22 June 2018. This inspection was announced, which meant the registered manager was given 48 hours’ notice of our inspection visit. This was because the location provides a small domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be available to meet with us.

We checked progress the registered provider had made following our inspection on 17, 18 and 19 October 2017 when we found they were in breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 Regulation 13, Safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment; Regulation 12, Safe care and treatment; Regulation 18, Staffing; Regulation 11, Need for consent; Regulation 9, Person-centred care; Regulation 17, Good governance; Regulation 16, Receiving and acting on complaints; Regulation 20A, Requirement as to display of performance assessments. We also found omissions in the reporting of incidents to CQC as required by regulations which was a breach of Regulation 18 of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009. The overall rating for the service was ‘Inadequate’ and the service was placed in Special Measures.

Services that are in Special Measures are kept under review and inspected again within six months. We expect services to make significant improvements within this timeframe. During this inspection the service demonstrated to us that significant improvements had been made and it is no longer in breach of the regulations, rated as inadequate overall or in any of the five key questions. Therefore, this service is now out of Special Measures.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. At the time of this inspection Samfos Health was supporting eight people.

Not everyone using Samfos Health necessarily receives support with the regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

There was a registered manager employed at the service. 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.

Staff understood what it meant to protect people from abuse. They told us they were confident any concerns they raised would be taken seriously by the registered manager.

Safe procedures were in place to make sure people received their medicines as prescribed.

There were enough staff available to ensure people’s care and support needs were met. The registered provider had effective recruitment procedures in place to make sure staff had the required skills and were of suitable character and background.

Staff were provided with an effective induction and relevant training to make sure they had the right skills and knowledge for their role. Staff were supported in their jobs through regular supervisions and an annual appraisal.

Staff understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The registered provider’s policies and systems supported this practice.

People were supported to access relevant health and social care professionals to ensure they were getting the care and support they needed to best meet their needs.

Positive and supportive relationships had been developed between people, their relatives, and staff. People told us they were treated with dignity and respect.

People’s care and support was planned and delivered in a way that ensured it met their needs and reflected their preferences.

People’s care records reflected the person’s current health and social care needs. The care records we looked at included risk assessments, which identified any risks to the person. They had been devised to help minimise and monitor the risks, while promoting the person’s independence as far as possible. We saw people’s assessments were regularly reviewed with the person on their representative.

There was an up to date complaints policy and procedure in place. People’s comments and complaints were taken seriously, investigated, and responded to.

There were effective systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided.

People, their relatives and staff told us the registered manager and service manager were supportive and approachable.

People, their relatives and staff were asked for their opinion of the quality of the service via regular meetings and satisfaction surveys.

The service had up to date policies and procedures which reflected current legislation and good practice guidance.

The service was well-led. However, we need to see these recent improvements have been sustained over time in order to give a rating of good in the key question of well-led.