Sarum Home Care Limited

Updated 22 September 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 20, 22 and 28 August 2018 and was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice that we would be visiting the service. This was because the service provides care to people living in their own homes and we wanted to make sure staff would be available to speak with us.

The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector and one Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Inspection activity started on 20 August 2018 and ended on 28 August 2018. On the 20 August 2018 we spoke with seven people and the relatives of five people by telephone to obtain feedback on the delivery of their care. On the 22 August we had telephone conversations with four members of staff. We visited the office location on 28 August 2018 and spoke with a company director and team leader.

Before our inspection we reviewed information we held about the service including statutory notifications that had been submitted. Statutory notifications include information about important events which the provider is required to send us. We also received feedback from two health and social care professionals on the provision of care and support delivered by the provider.

Due to technical problems, the provider was not able to complete a Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

We reviewed care records and documents central to people's health and well-being. These included care records relating to four people, recruitment records for four staff members, staff training records and quality audits.

We last inspected the service in June 2016 and rated the service as Good.

Updated 22 September 2018

This inspection took place on 20, 22 and 28 August 2018 and was announced.

Sarum Home Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. The service is registered to provide care for people living with dementia, older people, physical disability and sensory impairment. At the time of this inspection the service provided care and support to 49 people.

The service had a registered manager. 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. At the time of our inspection the registered manager was away from the service however we did have a telephone conversation with them following our inspection.

People continued to be cared for by staff who provided kind, compassionate and respectful care. Without exception, people and their relatives told us about the very kind and caring approach from staff. People and their relatives consistently told us they were treated with kindness and respect when receiving care and support.

Staff went the ‘extra mile’ to support people and showed an outstanding kind and caring approach to people.

Respect for people's privacy and dignity remained at the heart of the service's culture and values and people who used the service, their families and care workers felt respected, listened to and valued.

Staff continued to be highly motivated and delivered care and support that was exceptionally compassionate, caring and person centred.

There was a well organised management team who had clear roles and responsibilities. The registered manager acted as a role model for staff.

The management team promoted strong values and a person-centred approach.

There were robust systems to assure quality and identify any potential improvements to the service. This meant people benefited from a constantly improving service that they were at the heart of.

People received effective care from trained staff who had the skills and knowledge to meet people’s individual needs and choices.

Staff were motivated, passionate and proud of their jobs. They spoke positively about the management team and that they felt involved in the running of the service.

Staff completed annual development training on a number of subjects that related to the people they were supporting.

Staff were supported through one to one supervision, on site observations, team meetings and dedicated and responsive office staff and management.

People's rights were protected in line with the principles of the MCA. Staff were knowledgeable about the five principles of the act. This ensured people were supported in least restrictive ways and would enable people to have positive experiences.

Recruitment processes were robust to make sure people were cared for by suitable staff. There were sufficient numbers of staff deployed to meet people’s individual needs.

There was an effective complaints system in place. People told us they were confident to raise any issues about their care and that they would be listened to and addressed.

Systems were in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided.