Senescence Care Agency Ltd

Updated 17 July 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 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 was the first inspection for this service and was a comprehensive inspection. We talked to people who used the service or their relatives by telephone, on 16 May 2018 and the inspection visit took place on 17 May 2018 at the provider’s office base. The inspection was completed by one inspector.

Before the inspection we reviewed any information we held about the service, including any information the provider had sent us. This included the provider information return (PIR) which we received in April 2017. A PIR is a report that we ask the provider to complete which gives details of how they deliver their service, including numbers of staff and people using the service, and any plans for development. We reviewed any notifications the provider had sent us. Notifications are reports the provider must send to us to tell us of any significant incidents or events that have occurred. We also contacted external professionals who worked in partnership with the service to ensure that people’s wider health and social care needs were met.

In order to make an assessment of the quality of the service, we looked at a variety of records and spoke to people. We spoke to 11 people who used the service and their families; as well as the registered manager and five staff. We reviewed five care plans and other records associated with people's care, which included medicine administration records (MAR), needs assessments, risk assessments and daily care logs. We also reviewed management records which included staff records, policies, business development plans and evidence of training.

Updated 17 July 2018

The inspection visit took place on the 17 May 2018 and phone calls to people who used the service took place on 16 May 2018. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice of the inspection, as this is a community service where staff are often out during the day and we needed to make sure that the registered manager would be available to meet us. This was a comprehensive inspection and the first inspection since the service was reregistered in April 2017 and since the initial registration in October 2016.

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.

This is a care at home service. It provides personal care to 42 adults living in their own homes in the community. Not everyone using Senescence Care Agency receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

People who used the service were safe from identified risks. The registered manager followed safe recruitment practices and new staff were supported to develop their care skills whilst they completed a robust induction, before they cared for people on a one-to-one basis. Equipment was maintained and used safely to help people to mobilise. Medicines were managed safely, records were audited and staff received relevant training to ensure they had up-to-date knowledge and skills to administer medicines.

The service was very effective at caring for people. The service was developed using evidence based guidance and good practice. This ensured people received person centred care based on up-to-date evidence which promoted their rights and abilities. Staff received specialist training to ensure they understood and were able to meet people’s complex needs. People were supported to eat a balanced diet and had enough hydration to maintain their health and wellbeing. Staff knew people’s preferences for food and applied this when preparing food for people. There was excellent communication across the service, between staff working in the community and office based staff. Information regarding people’s changing health needs was discussed and shared among internal staff team and with external partners when appropriate.

People were supported to access external healthcare services and staff accompanied them when required. This ensured people maintained their overall health and wellbeing. Staff sought consent from people before caring for them and they understood and followed the principles of the Mental Capacity Act, 2005 (MCA). Staff took great care and time to ensure that the views of people with communication difficulties were captured and acted upon. The service was extremely person-centred and the staff were passionate about caring for people, without discrimination.

The staff were extremely caring and motivated to ensure people had the best possible care. They treated people with respect and dignity and developed positive relationships with people based on empowerment, equality and trust. Staff provided a compassionate and holistic service to people that included meeting their emotional and physical needs. People were encouraged to be involved in their care planning and staff made efforts to involve people and gain their views and preferences.

People received very responsive care that was personalised to their particular needs. Staff promoted people’s choices and preferences and supported them to maintain their interests and their place in the local communities. People said any comments or suggestions were acted upon quickly by the registered manager, who used feedback to improve the service and care people received.

People told us the service was extremely well led, with a clear focus on person centred care, empowering people to be involved in their care planning, making their wishes known and supporting them to be as independent as possible. The quality assurance systems in place were used effectively to monitor performance and quality of care and the registered manager responded positively to changes and used information to improve the service and care people received.