SCS - Head Office

Updated 6 September 2023

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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care and supported living agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. At the time of the inspection there were 2 people supported in the community and 1 person in supported living.

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post. The registered manager is also the provider.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 10 July 2023 and ended on 17 July 2023. We visited the office location on 13 July 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since it registered with CQC.

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 1 person and 2 relatives of people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 7 members of staff including the registered manager, the care manager and 5 care staff. We also spoke to a consultant engaged by the provider, to review paperwork and systems in place. We also made contact with 1 healthcare professional for feedback.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people’s care records and the medicene records for 1 person. We looked at 3 staff members files in relation to recruitment. We also looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.

Updated 6 September 2023

About the service

SCS Care Limited is a domiciliary care service and supported living service providing personal care to people. At the time of our inspection, there were 3 people receiving support in their own homes.

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

Right Support:

The small staff team in place knew people well, but care records such as care plans and risk assessments needed more information to give staff clear guidance for managing people’s known healthcare risks so safe and consistent care could be provided.

The provider's recruitment practices required improvement to ensure people were supported by suitable staff.

Staff training required improvement to ensure staff received training in a timely way and training was in place covering the healthcare needs of people supported. Records of staff induction also needed improvement.

People were supported to have choice and control of their day to day lives, however where restrictions were in place; the policies and systems in the service had not recorded the authorisation for this.

Right Care:

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

Staff adhered to infection control procedures and protected people from the risk of infection. Staff knew how to raise any concerns they may have to safeguard people and were assured the provider would take action. Relatives we spoke with said people were safe with the care and support of staff.

Staff were caring and respectful. People were involved in their care and said staff respected their wishes about how they wanted to be supported. People and relatives told us how staff supported their cultural needs.

People and relatives, we spoke with said staff provided good care and staff working for the provider told us they felt supported in their role.

Right Culture:

Systems to monitor the quality-of-care people received and provide an oversight of the service, were not always effective at identifying areas of concern. Systems in place had not identified the areas of improvement required in care planning and risk assessments, recruitment practices, and mental capacity information.

The registered manager needed to improve their knowledge and understanding of their role and responsibilities including their duty to submit statutory notifications about key events in line with the service's CQC registration. They also needed to improve their knowledge and training around support to people with a learning disability or autism so they could be an effective lead and manage staff who provide this support.

There was evidence the provider was open to working with external agencies to provide good care.

The provider was open and receptive to the areas of concern identified in the inspection and after the inspection the provider took immediate action to address some of the concerns we found.

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

Rating at last inspection

This is the first inspection of this newly registered service.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, effective, and well-led sections of this full report to see what actions we have asked the provider to take.

Enforcement

We have identified three breaches in relation to safe care and treatment, staffing and good governance. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from 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 continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.