Archived: MyLife (East Sussex)

MyLife (East Sussex) is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes. They cover Brighton and Hove, East Sussex and West Sussex, and have an additional branch office in West Sussex. The service provides support to people with a wide range of different health care needs. At the time of our inspection, there were 143 people using the service. 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

People did not always receive consistent and reliable care. Several care calls had been missed in recent months. Care call scheduling was not robust with some calls not covered on the day of our first site visit. We addressed this with the area manager and action was taken to improve this, we completed a second visit a week later and saw improvement.

Staff training was not up to date. Some competency checks had been completed however there remained a risk that not all staff had the correct skills and experience to provide safe care to people. Record keeping at the service was inconsistent, for example medicine administration records contained gaps. This was due to an issue with the electronic care system, not that the medicine was being missed. This was an area being addressed by the quality lead.

There was a lack of managerial oversight at the service. The quality assurance processes had not identified and addressed the concerns. Accident and incidents were not routinely reviewed to identify and address any themes or patterns in order to improve the service. The area manager was placed in the office following our first site visit until a new manager could be recruited.

People told us they felt safe with care staff in their homes, and most spoke positively about the care they received. We received mixed feedback from people regarding being given the opportunity to improve the service, however people told us they felt able to contact the office should they have any concerns.

People were treated with respect and dignity by care staff who knew their needs and preferences well.

Care plans and risk assessments contained information to guide staff on how to support people in the way they preferred and minimise risks. The provider had an up to date safeguarding policy in place and staff demonstrated good knowledge of what to do should they have concerns.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 18 February 2021).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to care calls being missed, cancelled and not scheduled effectively. We also received concerns that incidents were not being thoroughly investigated. There were also concerns over a lack of managerial oversight at the service and negative culture within the office staff. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, caring and well-led only.

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 good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, caring and well-led sections of this full report. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Since our inspection the provider has supplied an action plan detailing how they are addressing our concerns and minimising risk to people who use the service. This includes the area manager overseeing the management of the service, more robust scheduling of care calls, and arranging training.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for MyLife (East Sussex) on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have identified breaches in relation to people receiving safe and consistent care, staff training and managerial oversight of the service.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

MyLife (East Sussex) is a community-based care provider that provides personal care and support to people in their own homes. 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. At the time of the inspection, MyLife (East Sussex) were supporting 206 people with personal care.

MyLife (East Sussex) were also providing complex care to three people. This is where people require additional medical support which is overseen by a registered nurse. For example, a person at home who requires a respirator at night.

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

People were protected from the risks of harm, abuse or discrimination because staff had received appropriate training and knew what actions to take if they identified concerns. Staff had been recruited safely and were trained and supported to provide the best possible care for people. Medication was administered safely. We were assured that staff were following good infection control practices.

People were supported by staff who had the skills and knowledge to meet their needs.

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 supported by staff who were kind and caring and people's equality and diversity needs were respected. People's support needs were assessed regularly and planned to ensure they received the support they needed. One relative told us, “Everything is planned and done at [person’s] pace. Staff are very good at communicating with [person] and asking what they need.”

The management team had good oversight of the service and frequent audits were completed. Regular telephone calls were made to people to gather feedback and their views. Spot checks were carried out to ensure the quality of the service was maintained.

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

Rating at last inspection

MyLife (East Sussex) was registered on 4 November 2019. Prior to this, the service was two separate agencies which have now merged and been re-named MyLife (East Sussex). They remain registered under the same provider of care. This is the first inspection of MyLife (East Sussex).

Why we inspected

MyLife (East Sussex) had not yet been rated. It is a large care agency covering Brighton and Hove, and surrounding areas. As such, it was important that we inspected to provide an accurate rating and gained assurance that people being supported were safe. The inspection was also prompted in part due to concerns received about infection prevention and control procedures due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and a potential lack of training for staff. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. Please see the full report below.

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.