Sahara Community Care Services

Updated 2 May 2019

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.Inspection team:

Inspection team.

This announced inspection was undertaken by one inspector and an interpreter. Their area of expertise was speaking with people who spoke Punjabi and Urdu.

Service and service type:

Sahara Community Care Services is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to children, people living with dementia, people with a learning disability, people with mental health needs, a physical disability and sensory impairments.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service 5 days’ notice of the inspection site visit because some of the people using it could not consent to a home visit from an inspector, which meant that we had to arrange for a ‘best interests’ decision about this. This was so we could speak with a relative or advocate who was able to tell us about people's care.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). 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.

Inspection activity started on 16 April 2019 and ended on 23 April 2019. We visited the office location on 23 April 2019 to see the registered manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did:

• Before this inspection we checked the information we held about the service and the provider, such as notifications. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us. We used this information to assist with the planning of the inspection.

• We spoke with eight people using the service, seven relatives of people who could not speak with us, the registered manager, two care coordinators, a visiting manager from the provider’s other service and four care staff. We also asked for feedback from commissioners of the service and safeguarding teams. No concerns were reported.

• During the inspection we looked at various records, including care records for five people, as well as other records relating to the running of the service. These included files for two new staff, training records, medicine administration records, audits and various meeting minutes.

Updated 2 May 2019

About the service:

Sahara Community Care Services is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to younger adults, people living with dementia, children, people with a learning disability, people with mental health needs, physical disabilities and sensory impairments. It provides personal care to people from all cultural and ethnic backgrounds. It also specialises in providing services to black and minority ethnic groups in Peterborough.

Not everyone using Sahara Community Care Services 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. At the time of our inspection staff were providing personal care to 56 people.

Peoples experience of using this service:

• Risks to people were identified and managed well. Appropriate steps had been taken to safeguard people. Sufficient numbers of staff with the required skills had been recruited safely and deployed to keep people safe. One person said, "[Staff] are very good at making sure I use my walking frame, every time."

• People were supported to take their medicines as prescribed by trained and competent staff. Lessons were learned when things did not go quite so well. Infection control systems promoted good hygiene standards.

• Skilled staff were provided with the necessary support including coaching, shadowing experienced staff and regular supervision, staff maintained their skills.

• People's needs were met. One relative told us that it was purely due to staff that their family member was alive and doing well. People's independence was upheld and promoted with enough to eat and drink. Staff enabled people to access healthcare support by working well with others involved in people’s care.

• People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

• People were cared for by staff with compassion, kindness and dignity. Staff knew people well and they promoted people’s privacy, culture needs and independence.

• People had a say and choice in who and how their care was provided. One person told us, "Staff are very kind and compassionate. I have got to know them as a friend."

• People’s care was person centred and based on what was important to them. People's concerns were dealt with and acted on before they became a complaint and to the person’s satisfaction. Systems were in place to meet people’s end of life care needs and help ensure a dignified and pain free death.

• One compliment from a relative stated, "Thank you for making our [family member's] final days so special. We couldn't have managed without you."

• The registered manager promoted and supported an open and honest staff team culture. Staff upheld the provider's values by helping people live a meaningful life.

• Governance and oversight of the quality of the service was effective and helped drive improvements. People had a say in how the service was run and developed. The service and its management team worked well with other organisations including community nursing teams and GPs, People received care that was coordinated.

• Many people complimented the service for the quality of care provided. One relative told us, "I would not hesitate to recommend the service to anyone, whatever their culture or background."

Rating at last inspection: Good (report published 5 September 2016)

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

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