Mynas Care Ltd

On this page

• Overview
• Learning culture
• Safe systems, pathways and transitions
• Safeguarding
• Involving people to manage risks
• Safe environments
• Safe and effective staffing
• Infection prevention and control
• Medicines optimisation

Safe – this means we looked for evidence people were protected from abuse and avoidable harm. This is the first assessment for this newly registered service. This key question has been rated good. This meant people were safe and protected from avoidable harm.

This service scored 69 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The provider had a proactive and positive culture of safety, based on openness and honesty. Staff listened to concerns about safety and investigated and reported safety events. Lessons were learnt to continually identify and embed good practice, though records around this needed to be improved.

Staff were knowledgeable about how to report accidents and incidents. Professionals spoke positively about the learning culture at the service. One professional said, “From my experience, the service appears willing to engage with relevant organisations and respond appropriately when issues are brought to its attention.” Whilst the service were keen to learn and improve and this was visible through the commissioning of compliance reports from external organisations, specific lessons learned documents and processes needed to be improved. The Registered Manager started to implement this during our assessment.

People’s relatives seemed to suggest there was an open dialogue of communication with the Registered Manager and staff. One relative told us "Yes, I know who the manager is. I have her contact details, and she is very professional."

The provider worked with people and healthcare partners to establish and maintain safe systems of care, in which safety was managed or monitored. They made sure there was continuity of care.

People felt the care staff team worked well together. Staff spoke about how they got to know new admissions by reading care plans. One staff member said, “If I go to a new client, I would always read the care plan and read the notes from the previous carer as this is important and helpful.” One professional told us about the way the service managed safe transitions, they said, “A clear example of this was when supporting arrangements for a client’s holiday. The service played an instrumental role in ensuring the planning and delivery of care ran smoothly. Staff went out of their way to obtain appropriate training to ensure they could safely and effectively support the client during the trip, demonstrating flexibility and a commitment to meeting individual needs.” Pre assessments were completed before care was initiated. We were able to see some examples where appropriate referrals had been made.

The provider worked with people and healthcare partners to understand what being safe meant to them and the best way to achieve that. Staff concentrated on improving people’s lives while protecting their right to live in safety, free from bullying, harassment, abuse, discrimination, avoidable harm and neglect.

Staff were able to tell us how they would escalate any potential safeguarding concerns and were able to explain what type of things they would safeguard. One staff member said, “Safeguarding means if I see someone being neglected or abused this can be physically, verbally, emotionally, I will do something to help.” There had been no safeguarding concerns raised since the organisation opened. Staff received training in safeguarding both adults and children. The service had a safeguarding policy in place which supported good practice, though some amendments were needed to ensure this contained appropriate information. The Registered Manager acted upon this immediately.

A Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty policy and procedure was in place; some amendments were needed to ensure this contained appropriate information. The Registered Manager acted upon this immediately.

The Registered Manager confirmed people had access to advocates if they needed this support and we were able to see an example of this. People’s relatives told us they felt their loved one was safe with staff. One relative said, "Oh yes, Mum's perfectly safe because she has got to know her carer well and she really likes her."

The provider worked with people to understand and manage risks by thinking holistically. Staff provided care to meet people’s needs that was safe, supportive and enabled people to do the things that mattered to them.

People and their relative’s felt risks were being managed. One relative told us, "We went through a very detailed care plan when she came out of hospital; the manager was exceptional." Staff spoke about how they were aware of various risks and how they supported people with their healthcare needs. One staff member said, “If they are at risk of falls, they would have a pendant, we would press it and get the help on the way immediately.” Generally necessary risks assessments were in place in relation to people’s needs and health conditions; however, we did see an example in a person’s care plan, who had just started using this service, where a moving and handling risk assessment needed to be implemented. The Registered Manager took immediate action. Various policies and procedures were in place to support risk management.

The provider assessed potential risks in the care environment. They used technology which supported the delivery of safe care.

Peoples care plans contained an environmental risk assessment for their living environment. Staff spoke about safe environments. One staff member said, “We go out to the clients’ homes and carry out a risk assessment to see if the environment is suitable etc. this is done by office staff everything is communicated on the App (this is an application used by the service to support safe care).”

The provider generally made sure there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff, who received effective support, supervision and development, however necessary mandatory training in supporting people with a learning disability had not been provided to any staff. Staff worked well together to provide safe care which met people’s individual needs.

Records indicated staff training was up to date in most areas, though necessary supporting training in people with a learning disability had not been provided to any staff. The Registered Manager told us they were working to source the appropriate training.

People and their relatives told us they received their care on time. One person told us staff arrive on time and "do a very good job", whilst one relative said, "They arrive on time and stay the right amount of time." Staff told us they completed an induction when they started and that they felt they had the appropriate training for their role. One staff member said, “Yes, I feel happy with the training I have received and can talk to the managers if I need anything else.”

The Registered Manager told us, where possible, care workers and people were matched based on interests and religious/cultural backgrounds etc. Staff feedback on staffing levels was generally good, one staff member said, “I think staffing levels are quite good, the managers make you feel you are good at your job and we are all in it together, we are all introduced to new staff when they start so we know how everyone is and who we need to report things to.”

Staff spoke about how they received enough travel time between calls and said they had enough time with people to support them. One staff member said, “100% yes (I have enough time to get to calls), they give you time in between, they pay you for travelling and give you more than enough time with clients.”

Electronic call monitoring data made it difficult to determine if calls were delivered on time due to the way in which this information was recorded. Following feedback, the Registered Manager said they would look at ways in which this data could be improved. Staff received supervisions and appraisals in line with policy and safe recruitment practices were being followed.

The provider assessed and managed the risk of infection, and they detected and controlled the risk of it spreading where possible.

People’s relatives felt staff helped their loved one keep their home clean and tidy. One relative told us, "They are very respectful of her, and also they keep her house nice and tidy, which she really likes."

Staff told us they had completed infection prevention control training and that they used appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). Records indicated that staff helped people maintain the cleanliness of their property where required and appropriate PPE stocks were in place.

The provider did not always make sure that medicines and treatments processes were safe and met people’s needs, and records did not always support safe medicines practices.

Medicines systems and processes needed to be improved. Although most people received their medication in line with their requirements, we did find examples where this was not consistent. For example, one person’s medication had been dispensed and subsequently administered incorrectly due to a dispensing issue by the pharmacy. One person’s records relating to administration of antibiotics was not clear and we were unsure if the full course had been administered. Clarification was sought from the persons family and assurances given. These issues had not been identified or rectified through audits. The Registered Manager completed a lesson learned following these issues being identified to ensure more robust oversight was in place. These errors did not have any impact on people.

For one person who required a cream applied, they did not have a body map and there were no records regarding recording of dates when creams were opened. These issues had not been identified by audit as this person’s medicines administration records had not been audited for some months.

Staff received training in medicine administration and had their competencies checked. People’s relatives told us their loved ones were appropriately supported with their medication, one relative told us "Yes, they do my father’s medication, and I have no concerns regarding this."