We carried out a review of the data available to us about Social Care Academy Solihull on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Social Care Academy Solihull, you can give feedback on this service.
Social Care Academy is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care to people in their own homes. The service provides support to older people and to people with a range of needs including physical disabilities and sensory impairments. At the time of our inspection 9 people were receiving personal care. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 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 the service and what we found
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. 'Right support, right care, right culture' is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.
At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.
Right support
Risks associated with people's care and their home environments were assessed and well-managed. The model of care and settings maximised people's choice and independence. Staff supported people in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff were recruited safely and there were sufficient staff to provide people's planned care and support.
Right care
People received personalised care and support from staff they knew and who understood their needs. Staff knew how to keep people safe and protect from harm and relatives had no concerns regarding their family members safety. Staff followed safe infection prevention practice in people's homes.
Right culture
Systems were in place to monitor and review the quality and safety of the service provided, for example, audits of care records. Staff felt valued and supported by a registered manager who promoted an open and inclusive culture. The management team and staff worked in partnership with other professionals to achieve good outcomes for people.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 20 June 2022).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating to review the key questions 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 changed from requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Social Care Academy 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.
Social Care Academy is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection the service was providing the regulated activity personal care to 11 people. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 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
Risks associated with people’s care were assessed and staff understood their responsibilities to keep people safe. However, some risk assessments lacked detailed guidance to inform staff how to support people safely. Recruitment checks were not always completed in a timely manner, prior to staff being employed. The registered manager told us they would address these issues. People spoke positively about the service and medicines were administered safely, by staff trained in medicine management.
People had confidence in the ability of staff to provide effective care. Ongoing training was provided to the staff team to ensure their skills and knowledge remained up to date to provide effective care. People had access to healthcare professionals to ensure their ongoing healthcare needs were met.
People received person centred care and developed positive relationships with staff, who had a good understanding of their care and support needs. People’s right to dignity and privacy were respected and their independence was promoted.
People and relatives were involved in their care plans to ensure they reflected people’s preferences, religious and cultural beliefs and values. People knew how to make a complaint and feedback on the service was encouraged and used to drive forward improvements and learn lessons.
Quality monitoring systems and checks had not always been completed to provide effective management oversight of the service. The registered manager had identified this, prior to our inspection and recently recruited a manager to support the service. The provider had a contingency plan in place, to minimise any risks to the service running safely in the event of, for example adverse weather conditions. Staff felt supported by the management team.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
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 08/06/2021 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of all the information we held about this service.