Sova Healthcare Ltd

Updated 2 March 2019

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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 announced inspection took place between the 28 December 2018 and the 18 January 2019. The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector.

During this period, we visited the office premises and spoke with twelve people who used the service and/or their relatives and eleven care workers, including three senior care workers. We announced the inspection 48 hours prior to the first day of inspection to make sure the registered manager would be available.

During the visit to the office premises we looked at three people’s care records, medicines administration records (MAR) and other records which related to the management of the service including training records, four staff recruitment records and policies and procedures.

As part of the inspection process we also looked at information we already had about the provider. Providers are required to notify the Care Quality Commission about specific events and incidents that occur including serious injuries to people receiving care and any incidences which put people at risk of harm. We refer to these as notifications. We reviewed the notifications that the provider had sent us and any other information we had about the service, to plan the areas we wanted to focus on during our inspection.

We also ask providers to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. Our review of this information prior to our inspection enabled us to ensure that we were aware of any areas of good practice or potential areas of concern.

Updated 2 March 2019

Sova Healthcare Limited is registered as a domiciliary care agency. The agency is based in Bradford and provides a range of services including personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. At the time of inspection the agency was providing care and support to 37 people.

We inspected Sova Healthcare Limited between 28 December 2018 and 18 January 2019. During this period we visited the office premises and spoke with people who used the service and care workers. We announced the inspection 48 hours prior to the start of the inspection to make sure the registered manager would be available.

Our last inspection took place on 9 May 2016 and at that time the service was rated ‘Good’ overall. Following this inspection, the service remains ‘Good’ overall with no breaches of regulation.

At the time of inspection there was a registered manager in post. 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.

We found care workers received training to protect people from harm and they were knowledgeable about reporting any suspected harm. Care workers told us the training provided by the agency was very good and they received the training and support required to carry out their roles effectively.

Where risks to people’s health, safety and welfare had been identified appropriate risk assessments were in place which showed what action had been taken to mitigate the risk.

The feedback we received from people who used the service or their relatives about the standard of care provided was consistently good and people told us care workers were reliable and conscientious.

The support plans we looked at were person centred and were reviewed on a regular basis to make sure they provided accurate and up to date information. The care workers we spoke with told us they used the support plans as working documents and they provided sufficient information to enable them to carry out their role effectively and in people's best interest.

If people required care workers to assist or support them to prepare food and drink information was present within their support plan and care workers told us they encouraged people to eat a healthy diet.

There were a sufficient number of care workers employed for operational purposes and the recruitment process ensured only people suitable to work in the caring profession were employed. Care workers were able to describe how individual people preferred their care and support delivered and the importance of treating people with respect in their own homes.

The registered manager demonstrated a good understanding of their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and care workers demonstrated good knowledge of the people they supported and their capacity to make decisions.

There was a complaints procedure available which enabled people to raise any concerns or complaints about the care or support they received. People told us they felt able to raise any concerns with the registered manager and felt these would be listened to and responded to effectively and in a timely manner.

There was a quality assurance monitoring system in place that was designed to continually monitor and identify shortfalls in service provision. People who used the service and care workers spoke positively about the management team and we found there was an open and transparent culture within the service.