Salus Care Ltd

Updated 23 December 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

The inspection was conducted by 1 inspector and 1 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

We gave the service 24 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 28 November and ended on 11 December 2023. We visited the location’s office/service on 30 November and 1 December 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We looked at all the information we held about the provider including information they sent us when they were registered with us. We also looked at reviews people had posted online about the service. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We met with the spoke with a quality consultant and the registered manager. We spoke with a care assessor and a care coordinator. We viewed a range of records. This included 2 people's care and risk management plans and care records. We saw 2 staff files in relation to recruitment and supervision. We viewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including medicines support records, audits, meeting records and procedures. After our visits we requested a variety of records including care plans and care visit data. We received email responses from 11 care workers. We spoke with 1 professional who had worked with the service recently, 2 people and 9 relatives of people who use the service. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 23 December 2023

About the service

Salus Care Ltd is a domiciliary care service providing personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the agency was supporting 30 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

People felt safe, staff were caring and treated them with dignity and respect. People and relatives felt the service was managed well and people’s care needs were met. Relatives said they would recommend the service. One relative said, “I’d definitely recommend as they help the person and give us peace of mind.”

People’s care and risk management plans set out their care needs, their preferences and communication support.

There were systems in place to minimise risks to people’s safety and protect people from abuse. This included safeguarding awareness training so staff knew how to report potential abuse concerns.

People and their relatives knew how to raise issues or complaints and these were responded to promptly.

There were enough staff to meet people's needs. People were usually visited by the same staff who they were familiar with and who knew their needs and how they liked to be supported. Staff received regular training, supervision and competency checks. There were recruitment processes in place to help make sure only suitable staff were employed.

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 systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and recognise when improvements were required. People and staff were asked to give feedback about the service. The service worked in partnership with other professionals to meet people’s needs and help them to access healthcare.

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 21 September 2018). The rating for the service following this inspection remains good.

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.