Archived: Care Matters UK Limited

There was not a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the care Quality Commission to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the provider. 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. There was a new manager in post at the time we visited and their application with CQC for registered manager was in progress.

At our last inspection in May 2013 the service was meeting the regulations inspected. At this inspection we found three breaches of legal requirements in respect of unsatisfactory staff background checks, medicine management was not robust, staff were not supported through supervision and appraisal. The quality assurance system and processes in place were not effective. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

People who used the service told us they felt safe with the staff. The service had clear procedures to recognise and respond to abuse. All staff completed safeguarding training. The service completed risk assessments for every person who used the service. However, some improvement was required in the recording of plans to minimise risk and provide sufficient guidance to staff. The service had a system to manage accidents and incidents to reduce reoccurrence.

The service had enough staff to support people.

The service provided an induction and training to staff. However, refreshers training were outstanding and this required improvement.

People’s consent was sought before care was provided. The provider considered every person currently using the service to have the capacity to make decisions for themselves.

Staff supported people to eat and drink sufficient amounts to meet their needs. People’s relatives coordinated health care appointments and health care needs, and staff were available to support people to access health care appointments if needed.

People told us they were consulted about their care and support needs. Staff supported people in a way which was caring, respectful, and protected their privacy, dignity, and human rights.

Staff prepared care plans for every person to meet their individual needs and eight of the nine we saw were up to date.

The service had a clear policy and procedure about managing complaints. People knew how to complain and would do so if necessary.

The service sought the views of people who used the services and their relatives. Staff felt supported by the manager.

At our visit we found that people and relatives were involved in the care and there were suitable measures in place to ensure only suitable people were recruited for the job. People received safe care that mostly met their needs. Records were maintained appropriately in most cases.

When we followed these issues up in January 2013 we found the provider had addressed the staff support issues that had been identified at our last inspection.

People said that staff always turned up for visits. One person said, "their time keeping was very good", and that they stayed for the allotted time.

We found that the people who use the service were involved in their care planning and received a personalised care and support which was based on a assessment of their needs. However, we found that all staff did not receive suitable support and supervision. For these areas we have asked for immediate improvement.