Sagecare (Wirral)

Updated 9 June 2020

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was completed by an inspector, an assistant inspector and two Experts 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 homes.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 19 February 2020 and ended on 5 March 2020. We visited the office location on 19 & 20 February and 5 March 2020. We spoke with people on the phone on 20 and 21 February and visited some people in their homes by arrangement on 5 March 2020.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection

We spoke with 12 people who used the service on the phone and visited a further 5 people who received support from Sagecare Wirral. We spoke with 17 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with eight members of staff including the area manager, registered manager, care-co-ordinators, and care staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included seven people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 9 June 2020

About the service

Sagecare Wirral is a care service providing personal care and support for people living in their own homes. At the time of inspection, the service provided care and support for 135 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. At the time of this inspection, 97 people received personal care.

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

People told us that the service was safe, and staff always attended their calls. They also told us that they felt safe with care staff and the care they received at their home.

We have made a recommendation that senior staff review the scheduling of staff visits to people’s homes and how the timing and length of these calls are reviewed by senior staff.

People told us that the care staff were very caring, kind, friendly and their approach was always very positive. One person said, “I love my carers. They are marvellous and always come in with a smile.” Another person’s relative said about the care staff, “They adore him, and he adores them.”

People told us that they were listened to and staff supported and encouraged them to express themselves. One person told us about their care staff, “They really listen to my needs.” People also told us that care staff encouraged them to remain as independent as possible; and were always respectful towards them and respectful when in their homes

People were supported to make as many decisions as possible for themselves and to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Each person had an individualised care plan that contained details of the care and support they needed and had agreed to. These included specific detail about what was important to a person. Any risks were appropriately assessed and responded to. Each area of people’s care and support contained an assessment of the risks involved and guidance for staff on how the reduction of these risks had been agreed. People were involved in this process and risk assessments were regularly reviewed with them.

People were safeguarded from the risk of abuse. There was a system for recording any safeguarding alerts, investigations and outcomes and staff had received training in safeguarding people from the risk of abuse.

There had been recent improvement in the number of staff available and the service now had enough staff. Staff told us they felt supported in their roles and received appropriate training, supervision meetings, team meetings and told us that senior staff were approachable.

People and staff told us that they thought the registered manager was doing a good job. They told us he was approachable and keen to make improvements. The registered manager showed us that they had made a series of improvements and were now focusing on continuity of staff; particularly in the morning when people usually received personal care. They were reorganising their systems so that as much as possible, people received visits from familiar staff.

Staff at the service communicated effectively with healthcare professionals. We saw examples of when effective communication with other agencies had led to changes and improvements in people’s care and support.

Staff took appropriate action to ensure people were safe and control the spread of any infections. Staff followed good hygiene practices and used appropriate personal protective equipment that was provided when supporting people with personal care.

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 16 October 2018). Since this rating was awarded the registered provider of the service has changed. We have used the previous rating to inform our planning and decisions about the rating at this inspection.

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.