Background to this inspection
Updated
28 July 2016
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
We visited the office on 20, 21 and 25 August 2015. This was an unannounced inspection.
The inspection team included one inspector and an Expert by Experience (ExE). An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The expert by experience was an expert with older people and domiciliary care agencies.
On this occasion we did not ask the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. Before the inspection, we reviewed all the information held about the provider.
As part of the inspection we spoke with the registered manager. We spoke with three members of staff. We looked at six people’s care records and six staff members’ files. We spoke with ten people that used the service and six family members.
Updated
28 July 2016
On 20, 21 and 25 August 2015 we inspected Medacs Healthcare PLC Leeds. This was an unannounced inspection.
Medacs Healthcare PLC Leeds is a domiciliary care agency that provides staff to support 190 people in their own homes in the Leeds area but the registered office for the service is in Bradford.
The service 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.
The feedback we received from people was generally positive. People that used the service told us it was very good and spoke highly of the registered manager and staff. People were treated with dignity and respect and felt fully involved in their care.
Some people that used the service were supported with their medicines when required. However medicines were not recorded in line with guidance from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
There was a clear caring culture based on values promoted by the registered manager and the provider. Staff were motivated and proud of the work they achieved. Staff were positive about the support they received from the management team and felt valued.
Care records were written in a person centred way and were created with people and their families. Care records were reviewed regularly and we evidenced this through daily notes and saw staff were following the updated care records. People that used the service told us their care records reflected their current needs.
The service took people's safety seriously and took steps to ensure people received a service that met their needs at all times. People were encouraged to manage risks that enabled them to remain independent and staff understood the importance of this for people.
Recruitment of staff and their records evidenced that all relevant back ground checks had been completed. We saw staff recruitment of new staff followed the provider’s policy.
Staff were knowledgeable about people's needs and had access to development opportunities to improve their skills and knowledge. People told us they had regular carers who knew them well.
People's needs were assessed and care records detailed people's support needs. The service was responsive to people's changing needs and worked with health professionals to ensure appropriate guidance was available.
There was a robust system in place to ensure the quality of the service. The registered manager was actively involved in promoting good practice across the service.
People and their families told us they knew how to complain. Those people that had complained in the past said they received an outcome to their satisfaction. The provider had a policy on complaints.
We saw the service regularly analysed information to improve the experience of the people that used the service. Management would visit and phone people on a regular basis to ask for their opinions. The service would review the feedback and identify areas of improvement.
We identified two breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full report.