Background to this inspection
Updated
21 April 2022
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
Registered Manager
This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.
At the time of our inspection the manager was not registered with CQC but was in the process of applying for the registered manager status.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 23 March 2022 and ended on 29 March 2022. We visited the location’s office/service on 23 March 2022.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with four people and five relatives about their experience of the care provided from the service. We spoke with seven members of staff including the provider, the manager, senior care workers and care workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included three people's care records, multiple medication records, three staff files and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at policies and audits and additional evidence to support the inspection.
Updated
21 April 2022
About the service
Sincerity Home Care is a domiciliary care service registered to provide personal care to people who live in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 51 people receiving personal care and support.
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
People felt safe when receiving support from staff and staff were aware of how to safeguard people from abuse.
Care plans and risk assessments provided staff with information about people’s health needs and how to support them safely. However, some risks relating to people health had not been identified and assessed. We have made a recommendation about this.
People, relatives and staff were all positive about their experiences with the service. People told us that they had reliable support that was centred on them and promoted their health and wellbeing.
There were appropriate numbers of staff to support people when required. Systems were in place to prevent and minimise the spread of infections when supporting people.
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 supported within their roles and received training to support this. Some training required updating. The provider and management team had identified this and had a plan in place to address areas of training that staff required refreshing.
Quality assurance systems were in place to identify shortfalls to ensure there was a culture of continuous improvement. Feedback was sought from people and staff and this was used to make improvements to the service.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published 1 March 2019).
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to staff training and the management of the service. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective and well-led only.
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 not changed and remains good based on the findings of this inspection.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.