1 February 2022
During an inspection looking at part of the service
About the service
Sandwell Community Care Trust is located in West Bromwich in the West Midlands. It is a charity run trust and supports people who live in their own home. It is registered to provide personal care to people who have a learning disability and autistic people. At the time of the inspection Sandwell Community Care Trust provided support to 150 people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Right Support
The service had not always supported people in a safe way when staff tested positive for COVID-19. On two occasions staff who had tested positive for COVID-19 had isolated with people in their own homes. One staff member had isolated with a person who had recently tested positive for COVID-19 and another staff member with a person who was displaying symptoms of COVID-19. Although the provider had completed a risk assessment and made a best interest decision this meant staff were working without a break and everything possible had not been done to minimise the risk of infection. This increased the risk to people of receiving unsafe care. When we discussed our concerns, the management team gave us assurances this would not happen again.
People were supported by staff to pursue their interests. Lots of people and relatives told us about holidays they had been on and activities they carried out. One person told us, “I go line dancing, Zumba, swimming, bingo, yoga and walks.” Another person liked technology and enjoyed going on their iPad and laptop. We observed staff helping them to update their laptop after they had been having difficulties so they could use it again.
Right Care
People’s care, treatment and support plans did not always accurately reflect their needs. In some people’s care plans, there was different guidance for staff on how to support people, and it wasn’t clear which one was the correct one. However, staff did know people’s needs well.
People received personalised care and staff understood and responded to people’s individual needs. People and most relatives spoke very highly of the support received, their comments included, “They make me feel everything is in hand,” “Couldn’t wish for better care and service” and “I would give 10 out of 10 as it’s what I need to live a full life.”
Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. People and most relatives told us they felt safe.
Right culture
The management team were making changes to ensure they were a reflective organisation with a learning culture to ensure people received good quality care and support. This culture needed to be further embedded to ensure they reflected on decisions and involved other professionals as appropriate.
Staff knew and understood people well and were responsive, supporting their aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing. Staff listened to people and supported them to do the things they liked to do. People told us about different activities and holidays they had undertaken supported by staff.
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.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was inadequate (published 23 November 2021) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan and sent monthly reports to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made to consent to care, safeguarding and staff competency and training. However, enough improvement had not been made in governance and we identified a breach of safe care and treatment.
The service has been in Special Measures since 21 September 2021. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.
Why we inspected
We carried out an announced focused inspection of this service on 10 June 2021. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan and monthly reports after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve consent, safeguarding, governance and staffing.
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe, effective and well-led which contain those requirements.
For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from inadequate to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Sandwell Community Caring Trust on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Enforcement
We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.
We have identified a breach of regulation in relation to safe care and treatment. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
We have identified a continued breach of regulation relating to governance. We will continue to monitor the improvement within the service through existing conditions we have placed on the providers registration. This includes the provider sending a monthly report of the action they are taking to make improvements within the service.
Follow up
We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.