S&S Care

Updated 4 April 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

One inspector undertook the inspection.

Service and service type:

S&S Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection 20 people were receiving personal care from S&S Care.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

Inspection site visit activity started on 28 February 2019 and ended on 11 March 2019. We visited the office location on 28 February 2019 to see the registered manager and deputy manager; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did:

We used information the provider sent to us in the Provider Information return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send to us at least once annually to give us some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We looked at information we held about the service, including notifications they had made to us about important events. We also looked at other information sent to us from other stakeholders, for example, the local authority and members of the public.

We spoke with four people who used the service and four relatives. In addition, we spoke with four members of the care staff team which included a senior care staff member, and with the deputy manager and the registered manager. We sampled care documentation for three people using the service and medicine administration records for two people. We also looked at three staff files, staff training and monitoring of staffs caring practices along with other documents related to the management of the service. These included records associated with audits and quality assurance, questionnaires and staff duty rotas.

Updated 4 April 2019

About the service:

S&S Care is registered as a domiciliary care agency providing the regulated activity 'personal care' to people who live in their own homes. At the time of the inspection visit there were 20 people using the service.

There was 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. The registered manager and deputy managers are both directors (providers).

People’s experience of using this service:

¿ People’s safety was promoted by staff who were trained to recognise signs of potential abuse and how to manage and report any situations in which people may be at risk.

¿ People received their care from a small consistent staff team who they were able to build trusting

relationships with.

¿ People were provided with the right care at the right time because the management team closely managed and reviewed staffing arrangements to ensure people’s needs were safely met.

¿ People’s safety was promoted as the management team had systems and processes which helped to minimise risks.

¿ People benefitted from staff who used effective practices to reduce the risks of infections spreading.

¿ People were supported by staff who had the skills and experience to help them to maintain and develop their independence.

¿ People were supported with their medicines and good nutrition where this was a requirement of the care they received.

¿ People were supported to have control and choice over their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

¿ People and their relatives told us staff knew people’s care preferences well, and supported people in the ways they preferred.

¿ People were complimentary about how staff treated them as individuals and respected their privacy, dignity and lifestyle choices.

¿ People, their relatives and staff were encouraged to make any suggestions for improving the care provided and the service provided further.

¿ The management team worked well together to maintain systems to monitor and continuously improve the quality of services provided for people.

¿ The registered manager had showed a responsive approach to our previous inspection and made the required improvements.

Rating at last inspection: Requires Improvement. The last report for S&S Care was published on 28 April 2017.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The rating has improved to Good overall.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive until we return, as part of the inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

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