Sahara-Care Agency is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to older people and younger adults in their own homes across Derby. This included people with physical disabilities and mental health needs. Sahara Care specialises in supporting people from an Asian background. The agency is located close to Derby city centre. At the time of the inspection, the service was providing support for nine people and employed five members of staff.

Sahara-Care Agency had a registered manager. 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 legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Sahara-Care Agency has been previously inspected under a different legal entity. Sahara-Care Agency was registered as a partnership in September 2017 and this is the first inspection carried out under the new legal entity.

People’s safety was promoted by staff who implemented the guidance as detailed within people’s risk assessments and care plans. People were supported by staff that had been recruited and had checks undertaken to ensure they were suitable for their role. People’s medicine was managed safely and people received their medicine on time.

People’s needs were assessed to ensure the service and staff could meet these. The level of support people received was dependent upon their needs, which included support to meet people’s cultural needs. We found, people were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrict way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. People receiving a service were encouraged to maintain their independence.

Staff received support from the management team, through supervision and checks to ensure they were competent to carry out their roles effectively. Staff received the training they needed to provide safe and effective care to people.

People using the service and family members spoke of the positive relationships they had developed with staff. People’s comments and that of their family members evidenced how these relationships had supported people, in gaining confidence. People’s dignity and privacy was promoted.

People’s views, and those of their family members had been sought to develop and review peoples care. The registered person had not received any concerns or complaints, they had received a number of compliments about the service. People’s care plans had considered the individual needs of each person and the role of staff in meeting these, with a strong emphasis on meeting people’s cultural and diverse needs. People, were supported to access services within the community to meet their religious needs.

People’s communication needs were considered when developing care plans, which included information as to how people communicated, people were supported by staff who were able to converse in their preferred language. Information about the service, which included key policies and procedures was provided in Hindi, English and Punjabi.

Systems were in place to monitor the quality of the care being provided, which included seeking the views of those using the service and family members. The outcome of questionnaires was analysed and shared with people using the service in an annual newsletter. A range of audits were undertaken to evidence the quality of the care. These included the supervision of staff, the findings of which were analysed and shared with people annually within a written report.