MF Healthcare Limited

Updated 24 March 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

A single inspector carried out the inspection and an Expert by Experience made phone calls to people and their relatives to seek their views about the service. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 30 November 2022 and ended on 12 December 2022. We visited the location’s office on 30 November 2022.

What we did before the inspection

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included details about incidents the provider must tell us about, such as any safeguarding alerts that had been raised. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We sought feedback from commissioners and the local authority safeguarding team. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four relatives of people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with three members of care staff, the registered manager, who is also the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records, seven staff recruitment records and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.

Updated 24 March 2023

About the service

MF Healthcare limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is to 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, four people were using the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

The provider had not consistently identified and mitigated the risks people faced while receiving care. The quality assurance system was not robust; as the provider had not always identified some of the issues we found at this inspection, in relation to risk assessment and their mitigation, completing accurate care visit call records, and medicine administration records.

People and their relatives gave us positive feedback about their safety and told us staff treated them well. People were protected from the risk of infection. Staff received support through training, supervision and staff meetings to ensure they could meet people’s needs. Staff told us they felt supported and could approach the management team members at any time for support.

Staff asked for people’s consent, where they had the capacity to consent to their care. 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.

An assessment of people’s needs had been completed to ensure these could be met by staff. People and their relatives were involved in making decisions about their care and support. People were treated with dignity, and their privacy was respected, and supported to be as independent in their care as possible.

Staff showed an understanding of equality and diversity. Staff respected people’s choices and preferences. People knew how to make a complaint. The registered manager knew what to do if someone required end-of life care.

There was a management structure at the service and staff were aware of the roles of the management team. They told us the registered manager was supportive and approachable.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 01 September 2021 and this is their first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment and good governance.

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

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

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.