Sapphire Quality Care Agency Limited

Updated 26 March 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: This inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector.

Service and service type: Sapphire Quality Care Agency Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care support to people in their own homes.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection: We gave the service 24 hours' notice of the inspection visit because it is small and we needed to be sure that someone would be available.

Inspection site visit activity was carried out on 26 March 2019. We visited the office location to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did:

Before the inspection

• We reviewed notifications we received from the service in line with their legal obligations.

• We looked at information the provider had sent us about the service in the Provider Information Return (PIR).

• We contacted the local authority contracts department for feedback about the service.

During the inspection

• We looked at the care records belonging to five people using the service. Three staff recruitment records, medicine administration charts and other records relevant to the quality monitoring of the service.

• We reviewed records of safeguarding investigations, accidents, incidents and complaints.

• We discussed quality assurance processes and checked recruitment, supervision and training information.

• We spoke with one person who used the service and seven relatives.

• We spoke with the human resources manager, the operations manager and the registered manager.

Following the inspection, we spoke to three care staff members.

Updated 26 March 2019

About the service: Sapphire Quality Care Agency Limited is a domiciliary care service that provides support and personal care to a small number of older people. The service was providing personal care to 50 people at the time of the inspection. The service employed six office staff including the registered manager and 23 care staff.

People’s experience of using this service:

Safe recruitment practices had been followed and sufficient numbers of staff had been recruited. People told us staff usually arrived at the time they expected them and stayed for the contracted amount of time. People told us they received safe care. Staff were knowledgeable about safeguarding procedures and how to raise any concerns they had. Risks to people had been assessed and measures put in place to reduce these risks.

Complaints were managed well with outcomes and actions clearly documented.

Medicines were managed safely and staff completed training and had regular spot checks regarding this.

Care plans documented people's nutritional needs and these were known and met by staff. People told us they always received their choice of food and enjoyed the meals prepared for them.

Staff received regular training and supervision. They also attended staff meetings and had regular practice checks in the community. Staff we spoke with felt well supported in their role and able to raise any issues with senior staff and the registered manager.

The registered manager and staff worked with other professionals and agencies to help ensure people's needs were met effectively. Advice provided was clearly recorded and followed by staff.

Consent to care and treatment was sought in line with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People told us staff always asked for their consent before providing support. People’s chosen advocates was documented in their care plans.

People told us staff were kind and caring and that their dignity was protected. This was also reflected within the discussions we had with people and their relatives during this inspection.

Care plans reflected people's needs, and held person-centred information. The care files had been reviewed regularly and people were involved in these reviews.

Systems were in place to gather feedback from people regarding the service and action was taken to improve the service, based on the feedback. The registered manager also completed regular audits and addressed any areas identified as requiring improvement in order to improve the service.

Rating at last inspection: This is Sapphire Quality Care Agency Limited’s first inspection since becoming registered in July 2017.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection and the first for this service.

Follow up: 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 any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.