Archived: Mears Care - Greenwich

Updated 16 December 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 16 and 17 November 2016 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection because we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be available when we inspected. The inspection team consisted of a single inspector over both days of the inspection.

Prior to our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service which included any statutory notifications that the provider had sent to CQC. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We contacted the local authority responsible for commissioning the service to obtain their views. The provider had also completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During this inspection we visited two of the three extra care housing schemes where the service provides support to people. We spoke with twelve staff, including the registered manager and two scheme managers. We also spoke with thirteen people using the service, two relatives and two health and social care professionals who visited one of the schemes during our inspection. We looked at records including nine people’s care plans and risk assessments, eleven staff files, and other records relating to the running of the service including policies and procedures, and minutes from meetings.

Updated 16 December 2016

This announced inspection took place on 16 and 17 November 2016. We told the registered manager that we would be coming two days before our visit, as we wanted to make sure senior staff would be available. At our last inspection on 28 August and 02 September 2014 the service was meeting all the legal requirements we inspected.

Mears Care – Greenwich provides support, including personal care to people in three extra care housing schemes in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. At the time of our inspection there were over 160 people receiving support by the service.

There was a registered manager in post who had been registered in September 2016. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

At this inspection we identified a breach of regulations because the provider’s recruitment processes had not always been properly followed and sufficient checks had not been made to ensure that applying staff were of good character. We also identified a further breach because the systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service were not always effective in identifying issues or driving improvements. You can see the action we have asked the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.

We found that there were sufficient numbers of staff on duty, although improvement was required to ensure they were deployed effectively to support people safely. Risks to people had been assessed and staff were aware of the action to take to minimise identified risks. However, improvement was required to ensure people’s risk assessments were consistently reviewed in line with the provider’s policy.

People told us they were supported to take their medicines appropriately and records confirmed people received their medicines as prescribed, although further improvement was required to ensure people’s medicines administration records included information about the reasons why people had not always taken ‘as required’ medicines.

People were protected from the risk of abuse because staff had received training and were aware of the action to take if they suspected abuse had occurred. There were procedures in place to deal with emergencies. Staff received training and supervision in support of their roles. They were aware of the importance of seeking consent from people when offering them support and told us people had capacity to make decisions about their care. There were arrangements to comply with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

People were supported to maintain a balanced diet where this was part of their assessed needs. They were also supported to access healthcare services where required. Staff treated people with dignity and respected their privacy. People were involved in day to day decisions about their care and told us staff treated them with kindness and consideration.

People’s needs were assessed and care provided in line with their individual needs and preferences. The provider had a complaints procedure in place. People told us they knew how to raise concerns and had confidence that any issues they raised would be addressed.

People and staff spoke highly of the registered manager and told us the service was well run. The registered manager encouraged staff to work in a positive and open culture and was available to provide support when needed. The provider had systems in place to enable people to offer feedback about the service to help drive improvements.