Archived: Sevacare - Banbury

Updated 22 January 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check 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 inspection took place on 1 December 2015 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service. We did this because the manager is sometimes out of the office supporting staff or visiting people who use the service. We needed to be sure that they would be in. The inspection team consisted of two inspectors.

Before the visit we looked at previous inspection reports and notifications we had received. Services tell us about important events relating to the care they provide using a notification. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law. In addition we reviewed the information we held about the service and contacted the commissioners of the service.

We spoke with fifteen people, eight relatives, five care staff, a care coordinator, the registered manager and a regional manager. A regional manager is a person employed by the service with responsibility of overseeing management of a group of services within the same organisation. We looked at five people’s care records and medicine administration records. We also looked at a range of records relating to the management of the service. The methods we used to gather information included pathway tracking; this captures the experiences of a sample of people by following a person’s route through the service and getting their views on it.

Updated 22 January 2016

We inspected Sevacare Banbury on the 01 December 2015. The inspection was announced. Sevacare is a domiciliary care service in Banbury that provides care and support to people within the community. At the time of this inspection the agency was supporting 89 people.

The previous inspection of this service was carried out in January 2014 and the service was in breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010. This was due to concerns in relation to assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision. We required the provider to take action to improve. The provider sent us an action plan stating they would be meeting the relevant legal requirements by March 2014.

At this inspection we checked to see if improvements had been made. We found two breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.

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.

The staff had a clear understanding on how to safeguard the people and protect their health and wellbeing. Records confirmed the service notified the appropriate authorities where concerns relating to suspected abuse were identified. However management of medicines was not always effective.

People received effective care from staff who understood their needs. Staff received adequate training and support to carry out their roles effectively. Staff understood their responsibilities in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). The MCA provides a legal framework to assess people’s capacity to make certain decisions, at a certain time.

Staff were supported through ongoing meetings and individual supervisions to reflect on their practice and develop their skills. Staff received mandatory training, training specific to people’s need as well as any training towards professional development.

People spoke positively about the care they received from staff. People told us the staff were caring and treated them with kindness and compassion. Staff understood the importance of maintaining confidentiality. Staff were respectful of people’s privacy and always maintained their dignity. People were encouraged to maintain independence.

People received support based on their wishes and personal needs. The service responded positively to people’s requests, views and opinions. Staff respected people’s privacy and maintained their dignity.

People benefitted from care that was planned and delivered in a person centred way. We found when people’s needs changed the service responded. People and their relatives knew how to make a complaint and the provider had a complaints policy in place.

Leadership of the service was open and transparent and supported a positive culture committed to making service changes that would allow best care to be provided. However, systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of service provision were not being used effectively.