Archived: Mersey Valley Care

Mersey Valley Care is a domiciliary care service based in Sale, that provides support and personal care to people in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. At the time of our inspection 7 people were receiving support with personal care.

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

Governance and performance management systems were not always effective. The quality of information in people's care plans varied and some records we looked at did not include information about individual risks.

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. However, the systems at the service did not support this practice. Decision specific mental capacity assessments had not been not carried out to establish if people had the ability to make informed decisions. Best interest decisions had not been appropriately completed and recorded.

Assessments to identify any risks people using the service and to the staff supporting them had not been completed. Where risk assessments had been completed there was not a robust system to keep them under review. We have made a recommendation about this.

The provider and the registered manager had not created strong systems to promote people's safety in terms of the recruitment of suitable staff.

The provider had failed to ensure that staff received the appropriate support and training necessary to enable them to carry out the duties they are required to perform. We found instances of high numbers of e-learning courses that had been completed by staff in one day. This raised concerns regarding the ability of staff to process, retain and reflect upon training completed.

People and their relatives told us they felt safe, and staff were aware of their role in safeguarding people from abuse. There was a sufficient number of staff to meet people's needs. Staff felt there was an effective communication system in place to provide consistent care, and referrals to healthcare professionals were made where required.

Enforcement

At this inspection we rated the service as requires improvement. We identified six breaches of regulations, in relation to safe care and treatment, fit and proper persons employed, need for consent, person-centred care and good governance. Please refer to the end of the report for action we have told the provider to take.

Rating at last inspection.

The service was first registered with the CQC in September 2018. This was our first inspection of this service.

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.

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