Sage Care (West Midlands)

Sage Care (West Midlands) is a domiciliary care service registered to provide personal care. At the time of the inspection the service was providing care to 295 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.

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

Systems and processes in place had failed to identify a number of areas that we found during the inspection. Guidance given to staff to ensure people received their medicines as prescribed was not consistently followed for one person. Staff were not routinely provided with travel times between calls and call monitoring systems were not effective in identifying where people’s calls were consistently late or had been changed by care staff.

Systems were in place to record and act on accidents and incidents, but these were inconsistently recorded. Where these events had been recorded, there was a lack of analysis taking place of the information gathered. This meant opportunities could be lost to learn lessons from events. People’s views of the service were sought through telephone and face to face surveys, but where concerns had been raised, they were not consistently responded to and acted on.

The service had been taken over by new providers approximately 12 months ago. Staff felt well supported and described the process of transferring from one provider to another as seamless.

People were happy with the service they received and felt safe when supported by staff in their own home. Staff were aware of the risks to the people they supported and had been provided with the training and information required to support people safely.

People were happy with the support they received with their medication, but we found systems had failed to identify gaps in recording in Medication Administration Records [MARS]. Staff used correct equipment, such as gloves and aprons when assisting people.

People were supported by staff who felt supported and listened to and had their competencies regularly assessed to ensure they continued to support people in line with their care needs.

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.

Staff were aware of people’s individual needs and preferences and where support was required at mealtimes, this was provided. Staff were aware of people’s individual healthcare needs and supported them to access a variety of healthcare services where appropriate.

People considered staff to be kind and considerate and had positive relationships with the care staff who supported them. People were given choices and supported to make their own decisions where possible. Staff supported people to be independent and ensured their privacy and dignity were maintained.

People and their relatives felt involved in the development of the care plans. Care plans were reviewed and updated and staff were kept informed of any changes in people’s care needs. The service was responsive to people’s changing needs. Where people had raised complaints, they were responded to appropriately and people told us they were happy with the outcome.

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

This service was registered with us on 26 February 2019 and this was the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was the first planned inspection of the service.

Enforcement

We have identified a breach in relation to Regulation 17 in relation to the management and the oversight of the service.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan for the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.