Archived: St Edmunds Care Also known as Unit 3 Sentinel Works

Updated 2 October 2018

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 comprehensive inspection was carried out by one inspector on 13 September 2018. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because we needed to be sure that someone would be available to meet with us.

The inspection activity started on 13 September 2018 and ended 14 September 2018. On the first day we visited the office. We spoke with the director, manager and coordinator. We reviewed six people’s care records, records relating to the management of the service, training records, and the recruitment records of three newly recruited and three longer serving care workers. On 14 September 2018 we spoke with nine people who used the service, two people’s relatives and three care workers on the telephone.

We reviewed information we held about the service, including the statement of purpose, their registration documents and notifications we received from the service. Notifications are required by law which tells us about important events and incidents and the actions taken by the service. We also reviewed information sent to us from other stakeholders for example the local authority and members of the public.

Updated 2 October 2018

St Edmunds Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. It provides a service to adults. At the time of this announced inspection of 13 September 2018 there were 60 people who used the personal care service. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection to make sure that someone was available to see us, this was because the director and the manager also undertook care visits.

This service was registered in December 2017 and started to provide care and support to people in January 2018, this was their first inspection.

There was not a registered manager in post. The previous registered manager voluntarily cancelled their registration in June 2018. Another manager had worked in the service for a short time. There was a new manager in post who was in the process of completing their registered manager application. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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.

There had been changes in the service since registration, this included changes in managers and the service was supporting people and had taken on staff from another service which ended in April 2018. The systems to assess and monitor the service provided to people were still being developed and the director had identified areas which were being improved. However, all of the quality assurance systems were not documented or maintained to show how the service improved.

People received effective care. Improvements were being undertaken in the training provided to care workers to give them the information they needed to meet people’s needs effectively. This was not yet fully implemented. People were asked for their consent before any care was provided and their choices were documented. Where people required assistance with their dietary needs, this was provided. People were supported to have access to health professionals where needed. The service worked with other organisations involved in people’s care to provide a consistent service.

There were systems in place designed to provide people with safe care. There were enough care workers to ensure that all planned visits for people were completed. Care workers were recruited safely. Where people required support with their medicines, this was provided. The service learned from incidents to improve the service. There were infection control procedures in place to reduce the risks of cross infection. Risks to people were managed, including risks from abuse and in their daily lives.

People received a caring service. People had positive relationships with their care workers. People’s dignity, privacy and independence were respected and promoted. People’s views were listened to and valued.

People were provided with a responsive service. People received care and support which was assessed, planned and delivered to meet their individual needs. The care planning documentation was in the process of being changed to a new format, this would include people’s end of life choices. A complaints procedure was in place and people’s concerns were addressed.