Updated 3 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:
The inspection team consisted of two inspectors and one expert by experience (ExE). An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. Our expert-by-experience's area of expertise included supporting an older person living with dementia.
Service and service type:
Salus Dementia Care is a domiciliary care service providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes.
The service did not have a registered manager. The registered manager had resigned in January 2019. There was an acting manager who was supporting the service. A registered manager 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:
The inspection was announced. We gave the service two days’ notice of the inspection site visit because it is a domiciliary service and we needed to be sure that the manager would be available at our visit.
Inspection site visit activity started on 18 February 2019 when we made calls to people who used the service and ended on 28 February 2019. We visited the office location on 28 February 2019 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.
What we did:
Before the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service such as notifications. These are events which happened in the service that the provider is required to tell us about. The provider completed a Provider Information Return seven months before our inspection. This is information we require providers to send us 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.
During inspection, we spoke with six people who used the service, three relatives, four care staff, the two directors and the acting manager.
We reviewed a range of records about people's care and how the service was managed. This included care records of the three people who used the service. We reviewed associated documents including their risk assessments and records of the care they received. We looked at the recruitment checks carried out for two care staff employed at the service. We also reviewed documents and systems the provider used to assure themselves they provided a good standard of care.
After our visit, we reviewed information sent to us by the acting manager. This included staff training records and their improvement plan. We also considered further feedback that was sent to us by a person who used the service.