# Sterling Standard Care Group

*Operated by Sterling Standard Care Group Ltd.*

Sterling Standard Care Group is a CQC-regulated home-care agency in London.

## CQC Ratings

| Key question | Rating |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | Requires improvement |
| Safe | Requires improvement |
| Effective | Good |
| Caring | Good |
| Responsive | Good |
| Well-led | Requires improvement |

Rating published: 23/08/2023

## Practical info

- Postcode: NW3 5HT
- Registered manager: Akinyemi, Michael
- Local authority: Camden
- Region: London
- City: London
- Last CQC check: 23/Aug/2023 - 00:00

## Inspection findings

### effective

- Finding
  - Ensuring consent to care and treatment in line with law and guidance
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- Finding
  - Supporting people to live healthier lives, access healthcare services and support
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- Finding
  - Supporting people to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced diet
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- Finding
  - Staff support: induction, training, skills and experience
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- Finding
  - Assessing people's needs and choices; delivering care in line with standards, guidance and the law
  - Published: 2023-09-15

### Other

- Finding
  - Evidence: The service worked in partnership with local authorities and healthcare professionals to provide effective care.
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- Finding
  - Evidence: Managers maintained open communication channels with people, relatives and staff, and sought feedback via satisfaction surveys.
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- Finding
  - Evidence: People and relatives reported positive relationships with staff, describing them as kind, caring and understanding of individual needs.
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- Finding
  - Evidence: Managers supported staff through regular supervisions, appraisals, and a thorough induction programme including the Care Certificate.
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- Finding
  - Evidence: Staff completed infection control, hand hygiene and food hygiene training and had access to PPE.
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- Finding
  - Evidence: Staff received safeguarding training, knew signs of abuse, and understood escalation routes including to the local authority.
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- Finding
  - Evidence: Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community, including occupational therapy referrals.
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- Finding
  - Evidence: Staff supported people to make decisions following best practice in decision-making and within MCA principles.
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- **missed_or_late_visits** _(minor)_
  - Evidence: A few people/relatives told us staff did not always keep to time or came at random times.
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- **staff_competency** _(moderate)_
  - Evidence: managers did not always ensure gaps in staff employment history were fully explored at the time of recruitment.
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- **record_keeping** _(moderate)_
  - Evidence: Some sections of care records contained conflicting information around people's support needs. For example, a section of 1 person's care plan stated, 'We [staff] provide [person's] medicine support' while another section stated, '[Person is able to take their own medicines.'
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- **governance** _(critical)_
  - Evidence: quality assurance systems had not identified the issues we found around assessing risks to people and recruitment.
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- **medication_management** _(critical)_
  - Evidence: For another person who was known to be at risk of overdosing, there was no guidance on how to minimise this risk.
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- **medication_management** _(critical)_
  - Evidence: records also showed staff handling medicines which were not documented on the person's medicines administration records (MAR). This meant there was a risk the person did not receive their medicines as prescribed.
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- **care_planning** _(critical)_
  - Evidence: For 3 people who used catheters, no risk assessments had been completed to identify any associated risks and provide staff with safety information.
  - Published: 2023-09-15

### safe

- Finding
  - Learning lessons when things go wrong
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- Finding
  - Preventing and controlling infection
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- Finding
  - Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuse
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- Finding
  - Staffing and recruitment
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- Finding
  - Assessing risk, safety monitoring and management; Using medicines safely
  - Published: 2023-09-15

### well_led

- Finding
  - Working in partnership with others; Duty of candour
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- Finding
  - Engaging and involving people using the service, the public and staff; Continuous learning and improving care
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- Finding
  - Promoting a positive culture that is person-centred, open, inclusive and empowering
  - Published: 2023-09-15
- Finding
  - Managers and staff being clear about their roles, and understanding quality performance, risks and regulatory requirements
  - Published: 2023-09-15

## Source

Data published by the [Care Quality Commission](https://www.cqc.org.uk/) under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Canonical page: https://homecarecompass.co.uk/agency/1-2929603232

HomeCare Compass is an independent guide and is not affiliated with the CQC.