Archived: Mears Homecare Limited - Sheffield

At the time of this inspection Mears Homecare Limited - Sheffield was supporting 298 people whose support included the provision of the regulated activity ‘personal care’.

There was a registered manager at the service who was registered with CQC. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The Mears service had been operating at the Sheffield branch since August 2015. However, the registered provider changed the location name from Mears Homecare Limited DCA (Sheffield) and details of their address to accurately reflect the premises from which they were operating. The service was newly registered in September 2016. This inspection is the first inspection of the new registration.

The registered provider implemented a voluntary embargo on all new care packages as they had identified the need for improvement in some areas. The registered provider had worked to ensure their improvement and action plans were adhered to and improvements to the operation and delivery of the service were evident.

This inspection took place on 28 and 29 November 2016 and short notice was given. We told the registered manager two working days before our visit that we would be coming. We did this because we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be available and to arrange for some care workers to visit the office during our inspection so we could speak with them.

People supported by the service and their relative’s spoke positively of the staff that visited them. People said they felt safe with the staff. Some people told us the service they received had improved and was more consistent and reliable.

We found systems were in place to make sure people received their medicines safely.

Systems were in operation to ensure the safe handling and recording of people’s money to protect them.

Staff recruitment procedures ensured people’s safety was promoted.

Staff were provided with relevant induction and training to make sure they had the right skills and knowledge for their role. Staff had a good knowledge of the people they were supporting.

Some people said the timing of visits did not always meet their needs and they did not always have regular care workers visiting them all of the time. Other people said they had a group of regular staff who generally arrived on time and stayed the full length of time.

The service followed the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) Code of practice and the principles of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). This helped to protect the rights of people who may not be able to make important decisions themselves.

Each person had a care plan that accurately reflected their needs and wishes so these could be respected. Care plans had been reviewed to ensure they remained up to date.

Some people supported, and their relatives or representatives said they could speak with staff if they had any worries or concerns and felt they would be listened to. Other people told us they had found the office staff less reliable but said this had improved recently.

There were effective systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided. Regular checks and audits were undertaken to make sure full and safe procedures were adhered to. People using the service and their relatives had been asked their opinion via surveys and the results of these surveys had been audited to identify any areas for improvement. The registered provider was aware that achieved improvements to the running and delivery of the service needed to be sustained to make sure they were embedded into practice.