We carried out a review of the data available to us about Sarah Cares (Bath) Ltd 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 Sarah Cares (Bath) Ltd, you can give feedback on this service.
Sarah Cares (Bath) Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes. The service provides support to adults over 65 years. At the time of our inspection there were 55 people using the service.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care. Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects where people receive 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
People received their medicines safely from staff who were trained and assessed for competence. Staff had also received other training in areas such as moving and handling and safeguarding. Staff we spoke with knew how to keep people safe from avoidable harm. Any concerns were reported to the registered manager or senior team so appropriate action could be taken. Risks to individual’s safety were recorded and guidance was available for staff to follow.
The service was well-led. There was a registered manager in post who understood their regulatory responsibilities. There was also a small senior team who helped to make sure people’s needs were reviewed and care plans updated when needed. The registered manager had created a positive and open culture at the service and staff told us they felt valued. Staff often went out of their way to make sure people had what they needed at any time.
Feedback from people and relatives about the service was all very positive and many told us they would not hesitate to recommend this service to others. Person-centred care was a priority for the service and staff told us they all enjoyed their work. People and relatives told us they had care staff who were kind, caring and very patient. People were cared for by a stable and experienced care team. Many staff had worked for the service for many years and were allocated people to support on a regular basis. This helped provide a continuity of care which people and staff appreciated.
The registered manager told us they only took on new packages of care when they had staff to support people safely. All staff had contracted hours and established rotas which gave them enough time to spend talking with people if needed. This approach was appreciated by people and relatives who all told us they did not feel rushed while having their visit. Staff had been recruited safely.
Systems for quality assurance were in place and effective in monitoring all of the service. This included obtaining feedback from people, relatives and staff, checking medicines and carrying out unannounced spot checks on staff in people’s homes. All the senior team was involved in the quality monitoring process.
Guidance and procedures were in place for staff to know how to work safely in COVID-19. There was plenty of personal protective equipment available and staff knew when it needed to be worn.
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 good (published 1 March 2018).
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
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 remains good.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Sarah Cares (Bath) Ltd 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.
The service was registered to provide a regulated activity with the Care Quality Commission in November 2016. This was the service’s first inspection since registering and had not been previously rated.
Sarah Cares provides personal care and support to older people in their own homes in the Bath area. At the time of our inspection there were 34 people receiving personal care and support from the service.
A registered manager was in post at the time of our inspection. 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.
People felt respected and listened to and were complimentary about both the registered manager and the care staff.
People received their visits from a consistent staff team and staff and the management knew people well.
People were cared for safely because staff understood how to keep people safe and when to notify the provider, health professionals or relatives about any concerns.
Staff knew people well and had developed caring relationships. People felt safe with staff and trusted them to deliver the care they needed in a way they preferred.
People were confident that care staff would arrive on time and would be somebody they knew. Everybody using the service knew the registered manager and had confidence in her.
People were supported by staff who had checks carried out prior to starting their employment. This ensured that staff were suitable to work with people in their own homes.
Staff felt supported and received training, supervisions and an annual appraisal to enable them to fulfil their role.
People were supported with the nutrition and hydration and when required staff made referrals when people’s needs changed.
The provider had systems in place to check the quality of the service. They identified any shortfalls and made changes to prevent these happening again. There was a comprehensive monitoring system in place to make sure the agency was meeting the high standards set by the provider.