Archived: Mineral Homecare Ltd

Updated 27 September 2018

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 was 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.

This inspection took place on 14 August 2018 and was announced. We gave the registered manager 48 hours’ notice of our inspection. We did this because the provider or registered manager is sometimes out of the office supporting staff or visiting people who use the service. We needed to be sure that they would be available. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

We reviewed the Provider Information Return (PIR) which had been completed by the registered manager. 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. We reviewed the information we held about the service. We reviewed the notifications about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We also spoke with one local commissioner.

We spoke with two people who were receiving care and support from the service and three people’s relatives. We also spoke with four staff members which included two care staff, the manager and the registered manager/owner. We reviewed six people's care files. We also reviewed staff training and recruitment records and records relating to the general management of the service.

Updated 27 September 2018

This inspection took place on 14 August 2018 and was announced. Mineral Homecare Limited provides domiciliary care and support for people living in their own homes. Mineral Homecare Limited provides a service to people living in Stroud and surrounding areas. At the time of our inspection there were 10 people who were receiving personal care. The service provided care for people with long term health care conditions, older people, people with physical disabilities and people living with dementia. Care staff provide a service to people who need assistance with aspects of their care including mobility needs, personal hygiene and eating and drinking.

We last inspected Mineral Homecare Limited on 28 June and 10 July 2017 and rated the service as “Requires Improvement”. At this time the service was known as First Contact Healthcare Limited (Stroud). At the 2017 inspection the provider was not meeting all of the required regulations. We found people were at risk of being cared for by unsuitable staff because robust recruitment processes were not in place. We also made a recommendation to the provider in respect to their good governance systems they operated as a new business. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and sustained by the provider and we rated the service as “Good.”

The service had a registered manager, who was also the provider of 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.

The provider had implemented robust recruitment processes to ensure all care staff were of good character. The provider had implemented systems to monitor, assess and improve the quality of service they provided to people. The provider had recruited a manager who was registering with CQC. The provider also had plans to further develop management systems for the service.

People told us they felt safe and comfortable when receiving support from care staff. People and their relatives felt their needs were met by skilled and dedicated care staff. People and their relatives spoke positively about the care and support they received. People received support which was personalised to their needs, including support with their personal hygiene needs and support with their prescribed medicines. People and their relatives told us they felt listened to and could not fault the care they received.

Care staff spoke confidently about the support they received. Care staff had the skills and training they needed to meet people’s needs. Care staff received support from the provider and manager and told us their professional development was promoted.