Archived: Mears Homecare Limited (Swindon)

Mears provides personal live in care services to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection 54 people were receiving a personal care service.

Services are required to display their most recent ratings on their website and at the provider’s principle place of business. Ratings of the July 2015 inspection were displayed at the location of the service. However we noted that the most recent ratings were not displayed on the services website.

Services that provide health and social care to people are required to inform The Care Quality Commission (CQC) of important events that happen in the service. The manager did not always notify CQC of reportable events.

The service did not have 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. However the manager of the service was in the process of registering.

People told us they were safe. Staff understood their responsibilities to identify and report all concerns in relation to safeguarding people from abuse. Staff had completed safeguarding training.

People were supported by staff who had the skills and training to carry out their roles and responsibilities. People benefitted from caring relationships with the staff who had a caring approach to their work. The service had robust recruitment procedures and conducted background checks to ensure staff were suitable for their role.

Where risks to people had been identified risk assessments were in place and action had been taken to manage the risks. Staff were aware of people's needs and followed guidance to keep them safe. People received their medicines as prescribed. Records confirmed where people needed support with their medicines, they were supported by staff that had been appropriately trained.

Staff spoke positively about the support they received from the manager. Staff had access to effective supervision.

The manager and staff understood the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and applied its principles in their work. The MCA protects the rights of people who may not be able to make particular decisions themselves.

The service sought people's views and opinions and acted upon them. People and their relatives told us they were confident they would be listened to and action would be taken if they raised a concern.

Staff and the manager shared the visions and values of the service and these were embedded within service delivery. The service had systems to assess the quality of the service provided. Learning from audits took place which promoted people's safety and quality of life.

People were supported to maintain good health. Various health professionals were involved in assessing, planning and evaluating people's care and treatment.

Mears Homecare provides personal live in care services to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection 70 people were receiving a personal care service.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

People were supported by staff who could explain how they would recognise and report abuse. However, people’s care records did not always include up to date risk assessments. Staffing rotas indicated there were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs. However, people experienced late visits because staff were not always deployed effectively.

The registered manager was knowledgeable about the MCA and how to ensure the rights of people who lacked capacity were protected; this included Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLs). However people were not always supported by staff who understood the principles of MCA. Records showed staff had been trained in the MCA. Some staff we spoke with had an understanding of the principles of the MCA. However, some staff told us that they were unsure what the MCA was.

Some staff told us they received regular meetings with their line manager (Supervision). However, some staff we spoke with told us that these had not taken place. Staff records relating to supervision did not always demonstrate staff received regular supervision.

Accidents or incidents were documented and any actions were recorded. There were effective systems in place to assess the quality of the service. Regular audits were conducted to monitor the quality of service and learning from these audits was used to make improvements. However, the registered manager had not always informed the CQC of reportable events.

Staff we spoke with knew the people they were caring for and supporting, including their preferences and personal histories. However, care records were not always accurate and did not always contain information relating to people’s preferences, likes and dislikes.

People were supported by staff who had the skills and training to carry out their roles and responsibilities. People benefitted from caring relationships with the staff who had a caring approach to their work. The service had robust recruitment procedures and conducted background checks to ensure staff were suitable for their role.

Where people needed support with their medication and they were supported by staff that had been appropriately trained. Individual medication administration records were fully completed which showed that people received the medicine when needed.

People were supported to maintain good health. Various professionals were involved in assessing, planning and evaluating people’s care and treatment. Were people needed support to eat and drink they were supported by staff who followed the correct guidance.

There was a system in place to ensure that people’s opinions and views were sought in order for the service to make improvements. The provider had a complaints policy in place and we saw evidence that complaints had been resolved to the people’s satisfaction and in line with the provider’s complaints policy.

We recognise that the registered manager was aware of the areas of concern identified at the time of our inspection and that they were in the process of taking appropriate steps to address these concerns.