Millennium Support Ltd

About the service

Millennium care provides care and support to people living in their own flats and homes within a supported living setting so they can live as independently as possible. The service provides support to people with a learning disability and autistic people who may have mental health needs. At the time of our inspection, there were thirty-eight people using the service.

Not everyone who uses this type of service would receive 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.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Right Support

¿ People were respected and valued as individuals.

¿ Care was planned and delivered following an equality, diversity and human rights approach which encouraged people to achieve their desired outcome.

¿ People were directly involved in planning and reviewing their care.

¿ People were supported to engage in activities and to socialise.

¿ Staff understood equality and diversity and promoted these.

¿ People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Right Care

¿ People were positive about the care and support received.

¿ People’s communication needs were assessed and met. Staff knew people well and how to communicate with them.

¿ Risks to people's care were assessed and actions put in place to manage them.

¿ The management team were aware of their safeguarding responsibilities; appropriate referrals had been made when required.

¿Medicines were administered safely. Staff understood the organisation's medicines policy and followed it to ensure people received their medicines safely. Incidents and accidents were managed in a way that ensured lessons were learnt to prevent reoccurrence.

Right culture

¿ People were treated with dignity and respect.

¿ People were given choice about their care and support.

¿ People were confident to raise any concerns with staff.

¿ The staff were kind and caring to people and relatives.

¿ Staff were offered relevant training and ongoing support that was flexible and tailored to staff’s needs and people’s changing circumstances and interests.

¿ The management team were knowledgeable and passionate about delivering quality care centred around people's needs and preferences.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published on 4 July 2019).

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of Right support right care right culture.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

Millennium Care is a domiciliary care agency and supported living service, providing personal care to eight people in their own homes at the time of the inspection.

Supported living

There were four houses with up to two people in each house and staff supported people with managing their tenancy and day to day living.

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.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People felt safe and confident using the service. Individual risks were identified, with clear systems and processes in place to maintain people’s safety.

Clear support was in place for staff through training, supervision and the approachability of the leadership team.

People were involved in their care and support in meaningful ways. The provider had begun to improve the way they recorded assessments of people’s mental capacity.

Staff demonstrated the values of Millennium Care and put people at the heart of the service they provided. Staff were motivated and happy, and knew people well.

People were supported with inclusive person-centred care and staff empowered them to lead fulfilling lives. The provider was considering ways to improve how people could be more involved in their care records.

People understood how to complain and who to approach if they wanted to raise a concern.

Leadership and management of the service was uplifting and staff were respected, valued and cared for, which they transferred into their work with people. There was a very open and transparent culture throughout the service, enhanced through continuous communication and shared respect.

Quality assurance systems were in place and the provider was considering ways to further develop and strengthen these in a more efficient way, such as through IT. Strengths of the service and areas to improve were known and regularly discussed by the management team, with clear service improvement plans continuously under review.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (report published November 2018).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Millennium Care Services is a registered domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people in their own homes. The office base of the agency is in Featherstone, West Yorkshire. There were five people in receipt of personal care when we inspected.

There was a registered manager at the service. 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.

Staff were confident in how to ensure people were safeguarded against abuse and there were clear risk identification and management strategies in place.

Recruitment procedures were robust overall, with evidence of references and disclosure checks carried out prior to staff working with vulnerable people.

Staff understood the legislation around the Mental Capacity Act and how this impacts upon people's lives, and although records around the best interest decision making process and consent discussions were not fully available for us to inspect, the registered manager forwarded this information onto us following the inspection.

There were very detailed and relevant opportunities for staff training tailored to the needs of the people who used the service. Staff were supported well in all aspects of their work.

Staff in all roles were passionate and dedicated to their work and care provided was meaningful and person-centred. Care and support for staff was embedded, which meant staff were able to support people more effectively. Care was person-centred and there were detailed plans, assessments and reviews to ensure people's needs were met.

People and relatives spoke highly of the service and the positive impact it had on their lives.

Complaints information was clear and accessible and feedback was encouraged and shared with staff.

Leadership and management of the service was enabling; staff were highly valued and empowered to do their work. Quality assurance systems were in place to ensure the service delivery was maintained. Staff understood the core values of the organisation and promoted these in their approach to their work.

There was enough skilled and experienced staff to meet people's needs. This was confirmed by people we spoke with. Staff were provided with training to ensure they had the skills they needed to be able to support people. This included training in infection prevention and control, which helped to protect all parties.

The quality of the service being provided was being monitored by the management team. Any issues found were being acted upon. This helped to ensure that people remained satisfied with the service they received. We received the following comments from relatives we spoke with: 'The manager phones and asks for my opinion. I would raise any issues' and 'I cannot find words to describe how good Millennium has worked for us. They listen to us and take our views on board.'

People spoken with told us they were happy with the care and support they received. We saw people and their families had been involved in making decisions about their care and support and information provided by them was used to develop comprehensive care plans. One relative commented: 'The care and support is very personalised. I think the service is phenomenal.'

We saw the service had policies and procedures in place to safeguard people from abuse. These provided guidance for staff on the procedure to follow and their responsibilities if abuse was suspected. The policy was also available in an easy read version to make it more accessible to people who used the service.

A complaints policy was in place and again this was available in easy read format to assist people with their communication needs. We asked for and received a summary of complaints people had made. We saw people's comments and complaints had been acted on by the manager and resolved to the person's satisfaction.