Sama Care Ltd

Sama Care is a domically care service 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 the inspection the service was supporting 72 people with personal care.

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

People were kept safe while using the service and had risk assessments in place to reduce the risk of harm and to monitor people’s health and wellbeing.

Staff had completed safeguarding training and knew the different types of abuse people may face and how to report it. Staff were aware of the providers whistleblowing procedures and the organisations they could contact to report their concerns.

People were supported to receive their medicines safely where the service was responsible for managing them. The risk of infection was reduced as staff followed safe hygiene practices. Staff had access to enough personal protective equipment. Systems were in place to learn from accidents and incidents.

People’s needs were assessed before they started to use the service, people and their relatives were involved in this process. Staff received training relevant to their role and opportunities to discuss their role during supervisions, team meetings and appraisals.

People were supported to have enough to eat and drink. Consent to care was requested before care was provided. Staff knew to offer choice but did not always demonstrate they understood the Mental Capacity Act if people could not make decisions. The registered manager had booked all staff to attend additional Mental Capacity training.

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.

People told us staff were kind and caring. Staff were non-discriminatory and treated people as individuals. People’s privacy and dignity was respected when people received personal care. People and their relatives told us staff encouraged independence so that people did not lose skills they had.

Care was personalised and regularly reviewed. People’s communication needs were documented and met. People and their relatives were aware how to make a complaint and the service acted and responded to complaints.

People and relatives were pleased with the quality of care. They told us they could get hold of the registered manager and office staff. We noted some relatives were confused as to who the registered manager was, we informed the registered manager and they advised they would send a newsletter to inform people and their relatives.

Systems were in place to obtain feedback from people, relatives and staff and quality assurance systems were in place to improve the service.

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

Rating at last inspection and update.

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 2 December 2021).

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

At our last inspection we recommended that provider seek guidance to provide effective training for staff and guidance on notifiable events. At this inspection we found the provider had acted on the recommendations and had made improvements.

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.

Sama Care is a domically care service 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. On the day of the site visit, 180 people were receiving the regulated activity of personal care.

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

People had risk assessments in place but these were not very detailed and lacked information on how to mitigate risks associated with conditions such as diabetes or epilepsy.

Recruitment practices included carrying out relevant checks on people but it was not always clear how many references should have been obtained. We have made a recommendation about this.

People and their relatives told us they felt safe with their care workers. Care workers told us they knew how to keep people safe from harm. The provider had systems in place to ensure people were safeguarded from the risk of abuse.

People were supported by enough staff. The service used a call monitoring system to reduce the risk of late or missed visits.

People and their relatives told us that where care staff supported them to take medicines, this was done safely.

Infection prevention and control practices were robust. People told us their care workers wore gloves and masks whilst carrying out care.

Training was being carried out and was currently in the process of being updated to ensure that all staff received training in diabetes and epilepsy. We have made a recommendation about training.

Before the inspection we received information from the local authority that there were concerns about the management of the service and the absence of the registered manager. This was having a negative impact of the running of the service but we were given assurances that an action plan was in place to improve things. This included the registration of a manager, newly recruited staff and a new management structure.

The director did not always understand when they were to send in notifications to CQC and we have made a recommendation about this.

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 (our report was published on 5 February 2020).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to recruitment and general concerns about management. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, effective and well-led sections of this full report.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service.

We have identified breaches in relation to risk assessments at this inspection. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Sama Care Ltd is a domiciliary care service registered to provide personal care to older people including those living with dementia; people with a sensory impairment, mental health needs or a physical disability; and younger adults. 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 the inspection 65 people were receiving personal care support.

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

People and their relatives told us they felt safe with the staff. People were supported by enough and suitable staff who knew how to keep them safe from the risk of harm and abuse. People were supported safely with medicines. People were protected from the risk of infection. People’s accidents and incidents were recorded.

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.

People’s healthcare associated risks were identified and assessed. Risk assessments included mitigating factors to ensure safe care. People’s needs were assessed before they received a service. People’s needs were met by staff who were well trained and received regular support and supervision. People’s dietary needs were met effectively.

People and their relatives told us staff were caring and treated them with respect and dignity. People and their relatives told us they were very happy with the service. People were involved in making decisions regarding their care. People were supported to remain as independent as possible.

Care records were up to date, person centred and comprehensive. People’s cultural and religious needs were respected when planning and delivering care. Discussions with the registered manager and staff showed they respected people’s sexual orientation so that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people could feel accepted and welcomed in the service. The provider had a complaints procedure in place and people knew how to make a complaint.

People, relatives and staff told us the registered manager and the director were supportive. Staff told us they felt well supported by the service. The service had quality assurance processes in place. The service worked well with other organisations to improve people’s experiences.

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. (Report published on 4 August 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

Sama Care Ltd is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection they were providing support to six people.

The service had a registered manager in place. 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.

Relatives told us they felt the service was safe, staff were kind and the care received was good. We found staff had a good understanding of their responsibility with regard to safeguarding adults.

Risk assessments were in place which provided guidance on how to support people safely. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs. Medicines were managed in a safe manner. There were sufficient numbers of suitable staff employed by the service. Staff had been recruited safely with appropriate checks on their backgrounds completed.

Staff undertook training and received regular supervision to help support them to provide effective care. Staff we spoke with had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). MCA is law protecting people who are unable to make decisions for themselves. We saw people were able to choose what they ate and drank.

Person centred support plans were in place and people and their relatives were involved in planning the care and support the received.

People’s cultural and religious needs were respected when planning and delivering care. Discussions with staff members showed that they respected people’s sexual orientation so that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people could feel accepted and welcomed in the service.

The provider had a complaint procedure in place. Relatives knew how to make a complaint.

Staff told us the registered manager and the deputy manager were approachable and open. The service had various quality assurance and monitoring mechanisms in place.