Salus Care Ltd

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.

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 people. Not everyone using Salus Care Ltd receives a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

The service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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. The provider appointed a manager who registered with the care Quality Commission in January 2018.

The provider had systems to protect people from abuse, care workers had completed safeguarding training and knew how to use the provider’s procedures to raise any concerns.

The registered manager assessed possible risks to people using the service as part of their initial assessment and kept their assessment under review.

The provider carried out checks on new care workers to make sure they were suitable to work with people using the service.

The provider had a policy and procedures to make sure people received their medicines safely and as prescribed and were protected by the prevention and control of infection.

The registered manager assessed people’s choices, care and support needs to make sure they received the care they needed.

Care workers had completed the training they needed to deliver effective care and support.

Where people needed support with nutrition or health care needs, the provider included this in their care plans and gave care workers clear guidance on meeting their needs.

The provider assessed people’s capacity to make decisions about the care and support they received. The registered manager and care workers understood their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

People using the service and their relatives told us their care workers were kind and treated them with respect and compassion.

The provider supported people to express their views.

Care workers knew the people they supported well and spoke about them with fondness. They also understood the need to respect people's confidentiality and not to discuss issues in public or disclose information to people who did not need to know.

People using the service and their relatives told us people received care which met their needs and reflected their care plans. They said they received regular care visits, at the right time from care workers who carried out the instructions in their care plans.

People’s care plans detailed what they could do for themselves and where they needed support. The plans also outlined the person's preferences and routines so the care workers had information about how they preferred to receive care and support.

Care records covered a range of topics including health care, personal care, mobility, medicines management and nutrition. The daily logs care workers completed at each visit indicated they followed people's care plans and people received the care and support they needed.

People’s care records also included information about their cultural and faith needs and we saw the provider had an equality and diversity policy and information for care workers.

The provider had a complaints policy and procedures and they included details of this in the service user guide. People using the service and their relatives told us they knew about the complaints procedure and said they felt confident the provider would respond if they raised concerns.

People and their relatives told us they felt the service was well led and met their needs. They were consulted about the care and support they received and they described their care workers as flexible, friendly and well trained.

Care workers told us they felt well supported by the provider and the registered manager.

The provider had a system of audits and checks to monitor quality in the service and make improvements.

Care workers told us they had regular meetings and records confirmed this. They also told us they found the meetings helpful and informative.