Merit Care Ltd

Updated 26 October 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Merit Care Ltd is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service prior notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started and ended on 30 September 2019 when we visited the office location.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager and reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We spoke with two people using the service, two relatives and three members of staff by telephone. We contacted three social care professionals to gain their views about the service but we were unable to gain any feedback. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training and quality assurance records. We spoke with two professionals who regularly visit the service.

Updated 26 October 2019

About the service

Merit Care Ltd is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. The service supported six people at the time of our inspection.

Not 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

We heard positive comments about the service provided such as “I never want to move from Merit Care.”, “Superb” and “Very pleased.”

People were protected from harm and abuse through the knowledge of staff and management. Risks to people's safety were identified, assessed and appropriate action was taken to keep people safe. People’s medicines were safely managed.

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

People were treated with respect and kindness and their privacy and dignity was upheld. People and their representatives were involved in the planning and review of their care.

People's individual needs and wishes were known to staff. There were arrangements in place for people and their representatives to raise concerns about the service.

Effective quality assurance systems were in operation with the aim of improving the service in response to people's needs.

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

Why we inspected

This service was registered with us on 9 April 2018 and this is the first inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.