Sevacare - Wednesbury

Sevacare- Wednesbury is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to younger and older adults who may have a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder, sensory disability, dementia or mental health needs. On the day of the inspection 200 people were receiving support; this included people who were being supported with a short enablement program following discharge from hospital.

Sevacare-Wednesbury is required to and had 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 a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The registered manager was present for this inspection. She was also registered to manage another service within the provider group and divided her time between the two locations.

People were supported by staff who knew how to keep them safe from harm or abuse. Potential risks to people's safety were managed but records needed more detail. People were supported to take their medicines safely. People told us they had their care calls on time but we found some people had experienced late calls. The registered manager was monitoring call times to ensure people had support when they needed it. The provider carried out checks on staff to ensure they were suitable to work with people in their own homes.

Staff had training and support to develop the skills needed to care for people effectively. People told us they were supported to eat and drink and that staff were mindful of making sure they could access food and drink between visits. People were supported to access health professionals when they needed. Staff supported people to have maximum choice and control of their lives in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

People were consistently complimentary about the caring approach of staff describing them as kind, helpful and respectful. People said their dignity and privacy was protected when receiving care. People were encouraged to express their views about the care they received and felt that they were listened to.

People told us they were involved in decisions about their care and that staff respected these when assisting them. There was a system in place to investigate and respond to people's complaints.

People spoke very positively about the management style being open and friendly with good

communication. The registered manager had oversight of the service and was carrying out regular checks to ensure people experienced good outcomes. Quality assurance audits needed some minor improvement to ensure the provider was looking at all aspects of the service. There were links with other agencies to gain advice and share best practices to improve the quality of care to people. People's views on the service were sought and we saw their feedback was positive.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found