Sarah Care Limited

Updated 25 December 2021

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This inspection was completed by two inspectors and two Experts by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

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

The service had two managers registered with CQC. This means that they and the provider are all legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

We gave the service one days' notice of the inspection so we could ensure the registered managers would be available during the office visit. Inspection activity started on 1 December 2021 and ended on 14 December 2021. We visited the office location on 9 December 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 11 people and 10 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four members of staff including the two registered managers, a care coordinator and the senior care coordinator during our visit. We also received feedback from seven care staff.

During the inspection we reviewed a range of documentation. This included three people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 25 December 2021

About the service

Sarah Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. At the time of this inspection the service was supporting approximately 165 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 and what we found

The service had a positive culture that was person-centred, open, inclusive and empowering. The service ensured that staff in all roles were highly motivated and offered care and support that was exceptionally compassionate and kind. People's human rights, equality and diversity were very important to the service. Care workers understood the importance of respecting people’s diverse needs and promoting independence. Comments included, “The personality of the carers is superb, and I love talking to them. They lift my mood up in the morning,” “They [staff] are incredibly caring and very kind,” “My sister is very happy with the care, they [staff] are brilliant. Excellent, cannot speak highly enough of them,” “They [staff] talk to him [family member]about daily current affairs. They are just really lovely people who are dedicated to their work” and “I have regular carers who are excellent. They are fantastic and I couldn’t wish for anyone better. They really do care.”

People and relatives were exceptionally complimentary about how caring the staff were. The staff valued the people they cared for. People had built, strong, meaningful and trusting relationships with staff. Staff told us they enjoyed working at the service. Comments included, “I do enjoy working for Sarah Care the job itself is great and team members and clients are too. I enjoy all aspects of my job” and “Sarah Care is a fantastic company to work for and I'm very happy with all aspects of the job. Service users are happy with the care they receive and know that confidentiality is our first priority.”

People said they felt safe using the service. Staff were aware of their responsibilities in keeping people safe. Risks to people’s health and safety were assessed and mitigated. Medicines were managed safely by the service. Medicines records had been improved since the last inspection. There were enough staff available to ensure people received their calls. Most people told us they were supported by regular care workers. The provider had safe recruitment procedures in place to make sure staff had the required skills and were of suitable character and background.

People were consulted and listened to about their care and support needs. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

The registered managers monitored the quality of the service and took action when issues were identified. This ensured the service was safe and well managed. The service had received positive feedback from health professionals about the support provided.

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

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 4 May 2019) and there was one breach of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. 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 carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection. We undertook a focussed inspection to review the key questions of safe, caring and well-led only.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Sarah Care Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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