Background to this inspection
Updated
25 July 2019
The inspection
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.
Inspection team
The inspection team consisted of one inspector, an assistant inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is someone who has personal experience of using, or caring for someone in a service similar to Sedgeborough House.
Service and service type
Sedgeborough House is a domiciliary care agency, it provides personal care to people living in their own homes. CQC regulates the care provided by the agency.
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. We needed to be sure the registered manager would be available to meet with us. Inspection site visit activity started on 19 July 2019 and ended on 20 July 2019.
What we did before inspection
We reviewed information we held about the service. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as accidents or abuse. We reviewed the information the provider had sent us in their provider information return (PIR). The PIR gives some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
We contacted local authority commissioning teams. We received positive feedback regarding Sedgeborough House.
During the inspection
We visited the office location on the 9 July 2019 to see the provider, registered manager and nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We reviewed three people's care records, three staff files around staff recruitment, training and supervision. Records relating to the management of the service and a variety of policies and procedures developed and implemented by the provider were also reviewed.
On the 10 July 2019 we visited three people with their prior consent. We spoke to three people and eight people’s relatives on the telephone. After the inspection we conducted telephone interviews with six staff members.
Updated
25 July 2019
About the service
Sedgeborough House is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. It provides a service to older people, people living with dementia and people with physical disabilities. At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care to 60 people.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care. 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
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
Staff had awareness of safeguarding and knew how to raise concerns. Steps were taken to minimise risks to people and staff where possible.
Systems were in place to recruit staff safely and staff were equipped with the skills required to provide effective care and support; this was achieved through support and guidance from the management team, regular training and observations of practice.
People and their relatives had confidence in the ability of staff to deliver care effectively. People received personalised care from staff who knew them well. People were happy with the way staff supported them to take their medicines. People were supported to make and attend health appointments when needed.
Strong emphasis was placed upon continually developing the safety of the service and learn lessons if things went wrong. Effective systems continually monitored and evaluated the quality and safety of the service provided.
People's needs had been assessed before they started using the service and people and those closest to them were involved in planning and agreeing to their care. Care plans contained detailed information to help staff provide personalised care.
The management team worked proactively with other healthcare professionals to ensure a holistic approach to care. There were systems in place to keep people healthy, hydrated and ensure medicines were administered as prescribed.
There was a clear and supportive management structure in place. Quality assurance, audits and monitoring were regularly undertaken. This meant that areas identified for improvement were acted upon in a timely manner.
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 and update for this service was Requires Improvement (report published 17 July 2018). At this inspection, we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
This inspection was part of our scheduled plan of visiting services to check the safety and quality of care people received.
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.