Signa Care Group

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.

Signa Care is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in the community. The service was responsible for supporting five adults with their 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.

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

Relatives and people told us that staff did not always listen to them and talk to them appropriately and in a way they can understand. As a result, this impacted on the quality of the care received.

Safe recruitment procedures were not always followed. Full checks were not routinely conducted to ensure applicants were safe to support people in their own homes. The service failed to carry out full assessments of applicants’ competence, skills and experience which were necessary for role.

The quality monitoring systems were not effective. The issues we found had not been identified via the provider’s quality auditing systems. The service had systems for recording accidents and incidents, complaints and safeguarding concerns. However, the information was not analysed to identify any lessons learned to drive improvement across the service.

The provider had systems in place to ensure people were protected from abuse and harm. Staff had completed safeguarding training. Individual and environmental risks were identified and managed. A continuity plan was in place to ensure people would continue to receive support in the event of an emergency.

The service was responsive to supporting people with end of life care. One health care professional told us how the service responded quickly to requests of support and ensured care packages were in place allowing people to be cared for in their own home.

Care plans were person centred and provided staff with detailed information on how to support people in line with their preferences.

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 told us they felt supported by the management team. People, relatives and staff were encouraged to offer feedback.

People felt able to raise concerns and there was a process in place to manage and respond to any complaints about the service.

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 31 May 2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on our inspection programme.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection.

We will continue to discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.

We have identified breaches in relation to the assessment of applicants’ competence, skills and experience which are necessary for the role, safe recruitment, and governance. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report. Full information about CQC's regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

Follow up

We will request an action plan for the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.