Sarah Cares (Bath) Ltd

Updated 25 May 2023

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

This inspection was carried out by 1 inspector and an Expert 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.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. 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 21 April 2023 and ended on 9 May 2023. We visited the location’s office on 25 April 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 4 people and 7 relatives about their experiences of care received. We spoke with 7 members of staff and the registered manager. We reviewed care records for 7 people including medicines records, training information, staff rotas and scheduling, health and safety records, quality assurance records, the business continuity plan, quality and safety checks and audits, medicines competence checks, meeting minutes, incidents and accident forms, data protection information, compliments, 3 staff files for recruitment and policies and procedures.

We also spoke with 1 professional about the service and had feedback via email from another professional.

Updated 25 May 2023

About the 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.