Caremark (Mansfield & Ashfield)

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. 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.

At the time of the inspection, 100 people received some element of support with their personal care. This is the service’s second inspection under its current registration. At the previous inspection, the service was rated as ‘Good’ overall, however the question, ‘Is the service well-led?’ was rated as ‘Requires Improvement’. At this inspection, they maintained the overall rating of ‘Good’. The rating for the question, ‘Is the service well-led?’ improved to ‘Good’. The rating for the question, ‘Is the service effective?’ changed from ‘Good’ to ‘Requires Improvement’. This was because people had raised some concerns that staff did not always arrive for calls on time. We also had concerns that people’s rights were may not be protected when decisions were made for them.

People told us they felt safe when staff supported them. Staff understood how to report concerns about people’s safety to reduce the risk of people experiencing avoidable harm. There were enough staff to support people and the risks to their safety were assessed and acted on. People’s medicines were managed safely. Staff understood how to reduce the risk of the spread of infection. The provider had processes in place to investigate accidents and incidents and to learn from mistakes.

Some people felt staff did not always arrive on time for their calls. People’s care was provided in line with current legislation and best practice guidelines. Staff were well trained and understood how to support people effectively. Staff performance was regularly monitored although the frequency of these supervisions had recently reduced. People were supported to follow a healthy diet and staff supported people effectively with their meals. Information was available to support staff with caring for people. Other health and social care agencies were involved where further support was needed for people. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice. Some improvements were required to ensure all people’s rights under the Mental Capacity Act (2005) we respected. .

People and relatives liked the staff and felt they treated them or their family members with dignity and respect. People were encouraged to do things for themselves and were enabled to make decisions about their care. Staff treated people with compassion and communicated effectively with people.

People were assessed before joining the service to ensure their needs could be met. People’s care records were person centred and staff provided them with support in the way they wanted. People felt care staff responded effectively to complaints or concerns raised, however some felt office based staff did not always do so. People’s diverse needs were discussed with them and respected.

The registered manager carried out their role in line with their registration with the CQC. They now ensured all notifiable incidents were reported to the CQC. Staff respected the registered manager with staff encouraged to carry out their role in line with provider’s aims and values. High quality staff performance was rewarded. People and staff were given the opportunity comment on how the service could be developed and improved. Auditing processes were in place and these had already identified some of the issues we identified and were being acted on.