Archived: Saint Care Agency

Saint Care Agency is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people with health and social care needs 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 the inspection, 13 people were using the service.

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

The provider’s systems and processes had not always enabled them to effectively monitor the quality of the service being provided. Audits and checks were not completed on important aspects of the service provided, such as staff training and the monitoring of people’s care calls.

Systems and processes were in place to support people’s safety. People were supported by staff who had undergone a robust recruitment process. People and family members spoke of the reliability of the service and the friendliness and caring attitude of staff and management.

There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs. People told us they felt safe and staff ensured they were safeguarded from harm. Staff followed the provider’s policy and procedure for infection prevention and control.

Staff were supported through ongoing monitoring and good communication, which ensured information was shared in a timely manner to support in the delivery of personal care.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 7 October 2014 and this is the 5th inspection. It was rated good at the last inspection.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted by concerns we received that safe care was not being provided to a person. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

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 remained good based on the findings of this inspection.

Follow up

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

This inspection took place on 16 August and 3 September 2018 and was announced. The first day we visited the office and looked at paperwork. The second day we called and spoke with people who used the service and staff.

At our last inspection in 5 December 2017 we rated the service overall as ‘Requires Improvement’. Improvements were needed in the information in care plans and the embedding of periodic audits. At this inspection the service had improved, we found evidence to support the rating of Good.

A registered manager is in post. 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.

People were not protected by safe recruitment process which failed to ensure staff were suitable to work in care services, though improvements were made before the inspection was completed. There were enough staff to meet people's needs. Staff received training for their role and ongoing support and supervision to work effectively.

People were protected from the risk of harm. Staff had been trained in safeguarding people and understood how to assess, monitor and manage their safety. A range of risk assessments were completed, and preventative action was taken to reduce the risk of harm to people.

People were supported with their medicines in a safe way. People’s nutritional needs were met, and they were supported with their health care needs when required. The service worked with other organisations to ensure that people received coordinated care and support.

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. The provider followed the principles of the Mental Capacity Act, 2005 (MCA) in planning and delivering people's support. People's consent was obtained before they were supported.

People were involved in their care as far as possible and care plans were regularly reviewed and updated as people’s needs changed. Staff were provided with clear guidance to follow in the care plan which included information about people’s preferences, daily routines and diverse cultural needs. Staff had a good understanding of people's needs and preferences, and worked flexibly to ensure they were responsive.

People’s relatives were happy with staff who provided their relations personal care needs and all had developed positive trusting relationships.

People and their relatives were encouraged to provide feedback about the service which was used to assess the quality of the service and to make any improvements. The provider had a process in place which ensured people could raise any complaints or concerns and people felt comfortable to do this should they need to.

The registered manager and provider were aware of their legal responsibilities and provided leadership and supported staff and people who used the service. The registered manager and staff team were committed to the provider’s vision and values of providing good quality, person centred care.

The provider’s quality assurance system to monitor and assess the quality of the service was used effectively to improve the service. Lessons were learnt when things went wrong, and improvements made to prevent it happening again. The provider worked in partnership with other agencies to meet people’s needs and people's health and well-being was continuously monitored at the service.

We undertook this focused inspection to confirm that they now met legal requirements. During our inspection we found the provider had made improvements in the specific areas we had identified. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for (location's name) on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Saint Care Agency provides care for people in their own homes living in the city of Leicester. The service supports people with a range of needs, including physical disabilities and people who have mental health needs. At the time of our inspection the service was providing care for 11 people, two of which were in hospital.

There was a registered manager in post who was also the registered provider for 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.

Care plans had been reviewed and improved to provide staff with information and guidance about people's history, preferences and how they liked their care to be provided. However, further improvements were needed to ensure that all care plans included the detailed information staff needed to provided personalised care.

People and relatives told us they were involved in the development and review of their care to ensure it met their current needs. Records did not reflect reviews of people's care or demonstrate people's feedback about their care.

People were supported to reduce the risk of social isolation through involvement in their local community or though staff interventions.

People and relatives knew how to raise concerns and make a complaint if they needed to. The registered manager used complaints to bring about improvements within the service.

The arrangements in place to monitor the quality of the service had been strengthened in order to keep improving the quality of care people received. Audits and checks were in place and used to identify and respond to areas where improvements were required.

People and those important to them were supported to share their views about the quality of care they received. These were used to critically review the service and drive improvements to develop the service.

The service had a registered manager in place at the time of our inspection. 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.

People were supported by staff who understood the risks people could face and knew how to make people feel safe. Staff knew how to report any concerns of abuse or harm they identified when they visited people. People were encouraged to be independent with as little restriction as possible.

People were usually supported by a regular individual or group of staff who they knew. People who required support to take their medicines received assistance to do so when this was needed.

People were provided with the care and support they needed by staff who were trained and supported to do so effectively. People’s care and support was provided once consent had been obtained in line with the relevant legislation.

People were cared for by staff who understood their health conditions and ensured they had sufficient to eat and drink.

People were treated with respect by staff who demonstrated kindness and understanding. People were involved in determining their care and support. They were shown respect and treated with dignity in the way they wished to be.

People’s plans of care were not kept up to date and did not contain all the information staff needed to meet their needs. People were informed on how to raise any complaints or concerns.

There was a lack of systems to monitor the quality of the service and identify where improvements were needed. People who used the service and care workers were able to express their views about the service. The registered manager was respected by staff and provided them with leadership.

We found some breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full report.

Saints Care Agency Ltd is a domiciliary care service providing care and support to people living in their own homes. The office is based in the city of Leicester and the service currently provides care and support to people living in Leicester. At the time of our inspection there were 8 people using the service.

Saints Care Agency Ltd had a registered manager in post. 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.

People told us that they were very happy with the staff at Saints Care Agency Ltd and they felt that the staff understood their care needs. Care staff were confident to report any concerns about people's safety, health or welfare to the registered manager.

Care staff had undertaken safeguarding training and knew what to do if they had any concerns about the well-being of any of the people using the service. Staff understood their role in preventing potential harm and managing risks to people. We saw there were policies and procedures in place to guide staff in relation to safeguarding adults. There was further work required to ensure that risk assessments in people's care records had sufficient detail and information to support staff to manage risks to people safely.

People confirmed that staff stayed for the length of time allocated and arrived on time. People also confirmed that calls were not missed and that they received consistency and choice in carers. All the people we spoke with had no complaints about the service.

People said they thought care staff were well trained, knew how to support them effectively and were responsive to their changing needs. Staff had induction and on-going training that supported them to meet people's individual needs. However, not all staff records were reflective of the induction and training staff had undertaken. The registered manager told us that she would address.

Care plans were personalised and people's consent to care and treatment was sought. People told us that care staff respected their choices and decisions and that they had been involved in the planning of their care. Some care plans lacked detail and the registered manager has told us she will ensure that care plans are developed further.

The registered manager and care staff were knowledgeable about the needs of people using the service and took into account their personal preferences. People told us that staff were caring and treated them with dignity and respect.

People told us they were aware of how to raise concerns. They were confident that any concerns raised would be responded to by the registered manager. People who we spoke with told us they were happy with the service and how it was managed.

People told us that that registered manager was open and approachable and was very involved in the day to day running of the service. People appreciated the registered manager carrying out spot-checks and visits to their home to monitor their care and support and check on their welfare.