M&N Healthcare Edgbaston

M&N Healthcare Edgbaston is a domiciliary care agency. The service provides personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 3 people using the service. All care services were conducted by the provider at the time of the inspection, and no staff were employed.

Everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

People's experience of using this service and what we found

Some systems to monitor the quality of the service had not been effective. Robust auditing had not taken place and had not identified that care plans did not provide enough information for any agency or new staff to support people safely.

People felt safe and trusted the provider. The provider knew how to support people to keep them safe. The provider had received training to recognise and report signs of abuse.

There were no staff working for M&N Healthcare at the time of inspection, however the provider told us that they expected to expand the business and would be recruiting staff in the future. They stated, and we verified from proposed documentation that safe recruitment processes were in place and staff would receive a thorough induction to familiarise themselves with the expectations of the role and the values of the service. They stated that they would ensure staff received appropriate training and supervision to help them acquire the skills and knowledge to fulfil their role and responsibilities. It is the providers intention to provide training staff will need to carry out the role. This was verified by a detailed training matrix.

People told us the provider was caring and compassionate. People were treated with dignity and respect and their independence was promoted and encouraged.

People's needs were assessed before the service provided them with care or support. People and their relatives, where appropriate, were involved in this process.

Systems and processes were in place to seek the views of the people who used it.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and the provider supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

This service was registered with us on 20 July 2017. The last rating for this service was requires improvement published on 04 February 2019. A breach of legal requirements was found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider is no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Effective and Well-led which contain those requirements.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from Requires Improvement to Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for M&N Healthcare on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

People’s experience of using this service:

The service had not always assessed and mitigated risks particularly in relation to the personal care they provided. This meant we could not be confident that risks were being safely managed. We discussed this with the registered manager and advised it was important to ensure all risks were assessed and mitigated in relation to all people who received a regulated activity. This practice needed to be embedded before the service expanded.

People's needs had not always been fully assessed. We discussed this with the registered manager who advised some people had declined a full assessment due to not wanting support with more than one element of personal care. We have made a recommendation about completing assessments of needs.

Safeguarding policies and procedures sought to protect people from the risk of harm and abuse. Staff were knowledgeable about what might be a safeguarding concern and how to raise this both within the service or with the local authority.

Staff had been recruited safely and were deployed in ways which ensured people received their full visit.

Staff had received an induction programme and ongoing training which had meant they had access to the skills and knowledge they needed to support people effectively.

People had been supported to maintain their health and wellbeing, one person was doing regular exercises with support from staff which had maintained their mobility.

People had been supported to make their own decisions. At the time of inspection there was no one who was subject to any restrictions which needed to be legally authorised. Staff were aware of the importance of achieving consent from people before supporting them with any care.

Staff were caring and described by the people they supported as kindly.

Staff understood the importance of maintaining people's privacy and dignity.

People received care that was person centred and responsive to their needs and preferences. Regular reviews ensured any changes could be responded to in a timely way.

People understood how to raise any concerns they may have and felt confident they would be responded to promptly.

The registered manager was committed to providing high quality person centred care. They ensured staff were aware of the standards required and completed spot checks of performance and competencies to ensure standards had been maintained.

There was an auditing system in place to ensure quality was maintained however this had not identified the issues around risks and assessment that we found.

Rating at last inspection: This was the first inspection for this service since they registered in July 2017.

Why we inspected: This was a planned and scheduled inspection.

Follow up: The next scheduled inspection will be in keeping with the overall rating. We will continue to monitor information we receive from and about the service. We may inspect sooner if we receive concerning information about the service.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk