Sulem Care Limited

Updated 31 October 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check 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.

This inspection took place on 9 October 2018 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be available for the inspection.

Inspection site visit activity started on 9 October 2018 and ended on 11 October 2018. It included speaking with people who received support, their relatives and speaking with staff over the telephone. We visited the office location on 9 October 2018 to see the registered manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

The inspection team consisted of an adult social care inspector.

Before our inspection visit we reviewed the information we held about Sulem Care. This included notifications we had received from the registered provider, about incidents that affect the health, safety and welfare of people who used the service. We also accessed the Provider Information Return (PIR) we received prior to our inspection. This is a form that asks the registered provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. This provided us with information and numerical data about the operation of the service. We also contacted the local authority commissioning team.

We used this information to populate our planning tool. This is a document which helps us plan how the inspection should be carried out.

We spoke with a person receiving support, two relatives, the registered manager, the care coordinator and two care staff. We looked at care plans for three people and other related records. We checked the recruitment files for four staff. We also looked at other documentation associated to the running of the service.

Updated 31 October 2018

The inspection took place on 9 October 2018 and was announced. This was the first rated inspection for Sulem Care Ltd. The service has been registered for almost 12 months, however has been providing personal care since August 2018.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to older adults. At the time of our inspection there were seven people receiving support

There is a registered manager at the service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Staff had been appropriately recruited to ensure they were suitable to work with vulnerable adults. There was enough staff employed by the service to help people with their day to day support needs at the times they wanted.

There were systems and processes in place to ensure that people who lived at the scheme were safeguarded from abuse. This included training for staff. Staff we spoke with confirmed they knew how to raise concerns.

There was a process for recording, reporting and analysing incidents, accidents and general near misses to determine what could be improved within the service provision.

Risk assessments and support plans had been completed for everyone who received care to help ensure people's needs were met and to protect people from the risk of harm.

There was personal protective equipment (PPE) available for use, such as gloves and aprons. Staff confirmed they had good supplies of gloves and aprons when supporting people with personal care.

The service supported people with medication. Medication was administered by staff who had the correct training to enable them to do this. Records were kept in line with current guidance.

The service was operating in accordance with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and consent was sought in line with people’s best interests.

Staff received training to enable them to support people safely and training records confirmed this. Staff engaged in regular supervision with their manager.

People were treated as individuals, and their choices and preferences were respected by staff.

People’s care plans were person centred and contained details about the person, their likes, dislikes, how they want to be supported and what they could do for themselves.

People's dietary needs were managed with reference to individual preferences and choice.

There was a complaints process in place which. There had been no complaints since the service started providing support.

The service had been providing support to people for eight weeks. The quality assurance system was being developed. Checks were being made each week to people who used the service by telephone or in person to ensure the care was safe and was meeting people’s needs.

The service worked in partnership with other professionals such as the local authorities, Occupational Therapists and dieticians.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.