Archived: Mears Care - St Neots

Updated 7 June 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection team included one inspector who visited the branch on 27 March 2019. One expert by experience was used over two days to make telephone calls. Our expert by experience had experience in supporting older people.

Service and service type: St Neots: Mears Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

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 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit.

Inspection activity started on 21 March 2019 and ended on 27 March 2019. We visited the office location on 27 March 2019 to see the manager and office staff and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed information already known about the service. This included the previous inspection history, any information received about the service including notifications which are important events the service is required to tell us about. The service had sent in a provider information return when requested. This provides us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We spoke with the Local Authority and asked for additional information from other agencies such as Healthwatch.

Prior to our site visit we spoke with fourteen people and four relatives. On the day of our inspection we spoke with the registered manager, three care coordinators, and five care staff. We looked at three care and support plans, staff records and other records relating to the business. We asked for additional information and received an update from the training officer.

Updated 7 June 2019

The service was planned around the individual needs of people using the service. Their needs were met in a collaborative and holistic way with good partnership working. Staff were highly organised and efficient.

The service was effectively planned and well managed with clear leadership and overview of the service. The registered manager was knowledgeable and highly organised. The support provided to people was seamless because there was a suitably qualified and experienced senior team who could deputise in the registered manager absence and all had clearly defined and well understood roles. Communication was robust which helped ensure the needs of people using the service were known and any risks or changes in people’s needs were quickly identified and addressed.

The service had very robust systems in place to monitor compliance and help ensure the service was delivered in line with the organisational business plan and the local authority contract, taking into account any relevant legislation and best practice. The service scored highly in its audits but were not complacent. It embraced new ideas and technology whilst also investing heavily in their work force to be the best they could be. It acted on feedback and had a robust quality assurance system which put people at the heart of everything it did. It was open and transparent as demonstrated by its response to safeguarding concerns and complaints which were dealt with effectively.

Service delivery was in line with the service contract. Timings of calls were monitored by an electronic system which ensured the safety of staff and meant people had their calls as planned. Staff had regular rounds which helped ensure continuity and people told us they got to know their carers and were able to rely on them and trust them.

Care spoke spoken with demonstrated a caring, flexible attitude and real commitment to ensuring people came first. Staff said they were never rushed and took pride in their work. There were robust recruitment processes in place which helped ensure staff with the right values and skills were employed. Staff were supported through robust training, observations of practice, reflective supervisions and annual appraisal. These systems helped to support staff develop professionally. All new staff completed the care certificate a nationally recognised induction and staff were actively encouraged to take additional studies. Senior staff spoken with had been promoted internally through the organisation and were given the stepping stones to develop. This helped the service to attract and retain staff which benefited people using the service. Most staff we spoke with were experienced with many years’ service.

The service was safely provided because there were systems and processes in place to ensure people received the support they needed in a timely, consistent way and any risks have been identified and planned for. Staff had sufficient knowledge to help them carry out the regulated activity safely and in line with people’s wishes and consent. The service embraced equality and diversity and helped ensure that the service reflected the needs of people using the service. The service was regularly discussed with people to help ensure that they had no concerns or if they had ideas about how the service could be improved upon. This was acted upon and the service was forward thinking and maintained high standards in everything they did whilst continuously trying to improve. The service had maintained it good rating and was held in high regard.

Rating at last inspection: Good, (Report published 18 August 2016)

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection to check that this service remained Good.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

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