Staff Resources St James House

Updated 18 May 2022

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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 24 March 2022 and ended on 5 April 2022. We visited the location’s office on 24 March 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this 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. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four members of staff including the registered manager who was also the nominated individual and care staff. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data, quality assurance records, further policies and rotas and call logs.

Updated 18 May 2022

About the service

Staff Resources – St James House is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes. The service is registered to provide support to children and older and younger adults. At the time of our inspection the provider was supporting two people with personal care.

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 and what we found

Relatives stated people felt safe while receiving care from staff. Staff had a good understanding of how to keep people safe when accident and incidents occurred. The provider was not supporting people with the administration of medication at the time of inspection; however, robust plans were in place to train staff in this area. Risk assessments needed further development and required additional detail to provide staff with clear guidance on how to manage risks associated with the provision of people’s care. We discussed this with the registered manager, who reviewed and made improvements to these immediately. We have made a recommendation the provider continues to develop detailed risk assessments and management plans.

Relatives reported the registered manager attended multi-disciplinary team reviews regularly and provided valuable feedback in relation to the review of people’s care packages. Initial assessments had been completed by the provider in collaboration with professionals, people and their relatives. Training for staff was in place and staff had completed online training courses; however, further development of the providers training programme was needed so they could carry out more specialised training. We discussed this with the registered manager who evidenced a robust plan to implement training, focussing on specific areas such as the administration and management of medication, safeguarding and infection control.

Relatives praised staff for the care provided to people and stated a caring culture was promoted by the registered manager who visited and contacted families regularly to ensure care was being provided to the required standard. Care plans were person centred and provided clear guidance to staff on how to support people while respecting their likes, dislikes and preferences.

Relatives praised the provider and staff for their support in communicating people with specific communicational needs. Although feedback from relatives was positive, there had been one occasion when a relative reported concerns with the registered manager. The registered manager responded proactively and in a timely manner.

The provider was not evidencing quality assurance checks they were carrying out. We were assured audits and checks were happening from feedback provided by relatives; however, these had not been recorded formally. When we discussed this with the registered manager, they shared templates they developed and provided assurance these would be implemented immediately. The registered manager advised as the service grows, they intend to recruit care co-ordinators to maintain the level of active involvement in peoples care packages at management level. Staff felt supported by the registered manager and praised them for their hands on approach to supporting them, people and relatives. We have made a recommendation the provider ensures formal recording of auditing and checks are completed so the provider can evidence the good governance they carry out.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

This service was registered with us on 10 October 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.