Archived: Sanctuary Home Care Ltd - March

Sanctuary Home Care Limited – March provides personal care to people living in ‘extra care’ housing.

People’s experience of using this service:

Whilst there is a manager registered for Sanctuary Home Care - March they have spent little time at the service. The head of care has taken responsibility for the day to day management of the service. People were unable to say who the registered managers was and referred to the head of care as the manager.

Staff felt supported by the care co-ordinators and the head of care. Staff were clear about their role to provide people with a high-quality service. Staff enjoyed working for at the service. One member of staff said, “It’s great here and we all get on really well as a team.”

A quality assurance system was in place which included an annual questionnaire to enable people, relatives and other interested parties to have a say about how the service was run and how to make any improvements. Audits and monitoring checks on various aspects of the service, including spot-checks on the way staff worked with people were carried out.

The head of care was aware of the various matters that the service was required by law to notify CQC about. Staff worked in partnership with other professionals to ensure that joined-up care was provided to people.

People felt safe and were protected as far as possible by staff who were competent to recognise and report any avoidable harm or abuse. Potential risks to people had been assessed and measures put in place to minimise the risks.

There were enough staff to make sure that people were safe, and their needs met in a timely manner. Pre-employment checks were completed on staff before they were assessed to be suitable to look after people who used the service. Staff understood their responsibility to report any accidents and incidents. These were analysed by the head of care on a monthly basis to identify if there were any themes.

Staff received induction, training and support including supervision and appraisals to enable them to do their job well.

People were supported to take their medicines by staff who were trained and had been assessed to be competent to administer medicines.

Assessments of people’s needs were carried out to ensure that the service could meet those needs in the way the person preferred. Technology such as an alarm call system was used via the wearing of pendants for all people using the service to enhance the care being provided.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity and supported people to remain as independent as possible. People and their relatives made positive comments about the staff. One person said, “The staff are wonderful and so caring.” Staff treated people kindly. Staff were knowledgeable about each person and knew their likes and dislikes. People were involved in planning their care and support.

Care plans gave staff detailed guidance relating to the care and support each person needed so that people received personalised care that was responsive to their needs.

A complaints process was in place and a complaint received had been dealt with in a timely manner. The provider had a policy and procedure in place to meet people’s end-of-life care needs when this was required.

Rating at last inspection:

At the last inspection we rated this service Good (report published on 9 December 2016).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we might inspect sooner

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

This comprehensive inspection was unannounced. It was carried out by one inspector on 15 November 2016.

The provider is required, as part of their registration, to have a registered manager. A registered manager was in post at the time of our visit. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage a registered service. 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.

People were kept safe because staff were knowledgeable about reporting any incident of harm. There were enough staff to support people with their individual needs. Pre-employment checks were completed so that only suitable staff looked after people who used the service. People were supported to take their medicines as prescribed.

People were helped to eat and drink sufficient amounts of food and drink. People were able to choose where they wanted to have their meals. A main lunch time meal was provided on-site for those people who chose not to cook for them self. People were supported to access health care services, if they were unable to do this to maintain their individual health conditions. The nature of the care promoted people’s well-being by reducing the risk of social isolation.

The CQC is required by law to monitor the Mental Capacity Act 2005 [MCA 2005] and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards [DoLS] and to report on what we find. At the time of our inspection no person was assessed to lack capacity. Staff members had an understanding of the application of the MCA. Staff were aware of the actions to take if a person required a DoLS application to be made and had clear policy guidance about this legislation.

People benefited from being looked after by staff, who were trained and supported to do their job.

Staff looked after people in a kind and caring way. People and their relatives were involved in the review of their or family members’ individual care plans.

People’s individual health and social care needs were met. Staff had access to up-to-date records to provide people with the care that met their individual needs. People were able to make friends with each other. There was a process in place so that people’s concerns and complaints were listened to and these were acted upon.

There were management arrangements in place which supported care staff to look after people safely. Staff were made aware of their roles and responsibilities to provide people with safe and quality care. Staff and people who used the service were able to make suggestions and actions were taken, if these were needed.