Sheltering Arms of Yorkshire Ltd

Updated 25 February 2023

The inspection

We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.

Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people using the service and staff.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by 1 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.

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. The registered manager was not present during this inspection and we were supported by the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

Notice of inspection

We gave short notice of the inspection for the nominated individual to provide us with the documentation we needed to look at. Inspection activity started on 11 January and ended on 18 January 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since it was registered. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. 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 information gathered as part of a monitoring activity that took place on 11 May 2022 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements. We sought feedback from the local authority. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 7 people who used the service, 2 relatives and a health and social care professional. We also spoke with 4 members of staff and the nominated individual.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people's care records and various medication records. We looked at 3 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.

This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location’s office. We used technology such as telephone calls to enable us to engage with people using the service and staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation.

Updated 25 February 2023

About the service

Sheltering Arms of Yorkshire Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. 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. At the time of our inspection there were 10 people receiving personal care from the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People were placed at the heart of the service and benefitted from a management and staff team who were committed to ensuring they received a service which was exceptionally responsive and promoted their self-esteem and wellbeing. Without exception, all feedback received about the support provided to people was extremely positive.

Staff had built strong relationships with people and knew them exceptionally well. The provider, registered manager and staff went above and beyond to learn about people and their lives and used the information gathered to enable people to have positive outcomes. Staff focused on people's strengths and promoted independence , so people had a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life of their choosing.

People were supported by a small number of regular staff members who knew them well, promoted their independence, choice and control.

The provider and registered manager had a visible presence within the service and people knew who they were and how to contact them if they wished to raise concerns or discuss their care. The provider also completed people's care visits, this gave them the opportunity to speak directly with people and to get to know them.

Staff knew how to safeguard people from the risk of abuse and people were protected from the spread of infection. Medicines were managed safely, with regular audits of people's medication taking place.

The provider had suitable systems to ensure new staff were recruited safely. Staff completed a range of training and people told us they felt staff knew what they were doing and supported them well.

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.

There were governance systems in place which were regularly reviewed. Quality assurance processes such as audits and spot checks, were used to drive improvements. There was a complaints procedure in place, which people were aware of. Feedback was sought from people with regular visits, reviews and feedback questionnaires.

Staff felt supported by the registered manager and provider and were happy in their role.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 18 October 2021 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.