Sagecare (Wirral)

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. At the time of this inspection, 97 people received personal care.

We have made a recommendation that senior staff review the scheduling of staff visits to people's homes and how the timing and length of these calls are reviewed by senior staff.

People told us that the care staff were very caring, kind, friendly and their approach was always very positive. One person said, "I love my carers. They are marvellous and always come in with a smile." Another person's relative said about the care staff, "They adore him, and he adores them."

People told us that they were listened to and staff supported and encouraged them to express themselves. One person told us about their care staff, "They really listen to my needs." People also told us that care staff encouraged them to remain as independent as possible; and were always respectful towards them and respectful when in their homes

People were supported to make as many decisions as possible for themselves and to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Each person had an individualised care plan that contained details of the care and support they needed and had agreed to. These included specific detail about what was important to a person. Any risks were appropriately assessed and responded to. Each area of people's care and support contained an assessment of the risks involved and guidance for staff on how the reduction of these risks had been agreed. People were involved in this process and risk assessments were regularly reviewed with them. People were safeguarded from the risk of abuse. There was a system for recording any safeguarding alerts, investigations and outcomes and staff had received training in safeguarding people from the risk of abuse.

There had been recent improvement in the number of staff available and the service now had enough staff. Staff told us they felt supported in their roles and received appropriate training, supervision meetings, team meetings and told us that senior staff were approachable.

People and staff told us that they thought the registered manager was doing a good job. They told us he was approachable and keen to make improvements. The registered manager showed us that they had made a series of improvements and were now focusing on continuity of staff; particularly in the morning when people usually received personal care. They were reorganising their systems so that as much as possible, people received visits from familiar staff.

Staff at the service communicated effectively with healthcare professionals. We saw examples of when effective communication with other agencies had led to changes and improvements in people's care and support.

Staff took appropriate action to ensure people were safe and control the spread of any infections. Staff followed good hygiene practices and used appropriate personal protective equipment that was provided when supporting people with personal care.