About the service: Mears Care Laindon is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of inspection there were 221 people using the service.People’s experience of using this service:
Feedback from people we spoke with regarding the service was generally positive with one notable exception, the quality and consistency of communication between themselves and the management team. This impacted on the quality of the service people received. The mixed feedback we received also showed there were marked variations in the experiences of people using the service which demonstrated inconsistencies in how systems and processes were applied in practice. The failings we found had been identified by the provider but the improvements required had not always been sustained or consistently applied.
Whilst people were not always positive about the management of the service, people were positive about the care and support they received on a day to day basis and spoke highly of staff.
A very good feature of the service was the fact that people were supported by regular care staff. This meant people benefitted by being cared for by staff who knew them well and with whom they had developed a good rapport. This continuity of care was highly valued by people.
People felt safe using the service and staff knew how to keep people safe from the risk of harm. Risks to people had been assessed, however these sometimes lacked detail and were not always tailored to reflect people’s individual needs.
We made a recommendation about risk assessment and management.
Medicines were safely managed. There were sufficient staff deployed to safely meet people’s needs who had been safely recruited. Good infection control practices were used by staff to prevent the spread of infection.
Staff received training, supervision and appraisals to help them develop the necessary knowledge and skills to be competent in their role. Staff understood how to help people make decisions so that people had choice and control over their lives.
Where required, the service helped people to have enough to eat and drink and monitored people at risk of malnutrition or dehydration. Some people expressed dissatisfaction with the skills of some staff with regard to food preparation.
We made a recommendation about matching staff to people to ensure people’s needs and preferences were consistently met.
Staff were kind and caring and regularly went the extra mile. People were treated respectfully and with dignity and their privacy was respected.
The timing of care visits was not consistently person-centred as they did not always respect people’s routines and preferences. However, care staff took a person-centred approach in their daily practice when providing support by listening to people and providing care the way they wanted.
People were provided with information on how to make a complaint and systems were in place to respond appropriately. The views of people were sought to drive improvements, however feedback showed that improvements were not always sustained.
Staff were included in the running of the service. Staff told us the management team were supportive and they enjoyed working at the service.
Rating at last inspection:
Good (report published May 2016)
Why we inspected:
This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The overall rating is Good.
Follow up:
We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive.