Archived: Mears Care Leicester

Mears Care Leicester is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care support in people's homes. At the time of our inspection 90 people were receiving care and support.

It is a requirement that the service has a registered manager. 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. The service had a registered manager in place at the time of our inspection.

People told us that they felt safe. Risks to people’s health and well-being had been assessed and staff knew how to keep people safe. Arrangements were in place to carry out safety checks of people’s homes and equipment to keep them safe.

Staff knew about their responsibilities to safeguard people from abuse. They knew how to report any concerns and had received training in keeping people safe. There were plans for staff to follow to keep people safe during an emergency.

People were satisfied that their care and support calls were on time and from a consistent staff team. Staff generally felt that they had enough time to carry out the care and support required of them.

People were being supported by staff that had been checked before they had started to work for the provider. This had helped the provider to make safer recruitment decisions. Where we saw that a recheck was missing for a staff member, the registered manager dealt with this promptly.

Where staff supported people with their medicines, this was undertaken in a safe way. Staff received training and on-going guidance to make sure they were handling medicines safely.

People were receiving care and support by staff who had the required skills and knowledge. Staff had received regular training in areas relevant to their role. For example, staff had received training in the safe moving and handling of people.

Staff had received an induction when they had started to work and knew about their responsibilities. They had received regular guidance and support from the registered manager or their supervisor. Staff had opportunities to discuss with the registered manage or their supervisor areas for improvement and they received feedback on their work.

People were being supported by staff who understood the Mental Capacity Act (MCA). Staff were able to describe how they offered choices and supported people to make decisions about their own care and support. The provider had a process in place for assessing people’s capacity.

People were being supported to remain healthy. Staff knew how to do this and information about people’s health needs was available in their support plans. Where there was concern about people’s health, staff knew what to do and took the appropriate action.

People were offered care and support by staff who cared. Their dignity and privacy was being respected and their confidential and sensitive care records were being stored safely.

Staff knew about people’s preferences and they were being supported to remain as independent as possible by staff who knew how to do this. This meant that people were receiving care and support based on their preferences and abilities.

People had contributed and had been involved in planning and reviewing their care where they could. Staff had up to date information about people’s care and support requirements because regular reviews had taken place.

People received a service that was largely flexible and responsive to them. The timings of calls could be altered to meet their individual requirements. However, it was not always clear about people’s wishes for resuscitation.

Advocacy information was not being made available to people. The registered manager told us that they would consider how to let people know about services that could help them to speak up if they required this support.

People knew how to make a complaint. Feedback about the quality of the service offered had been sought.

People, relatives of people receiving care and support and staff told us that the service was well-led. There were opportunities available to them to give ideas for improvements to the provider.

Staff told us, and we saw, that they were supported and were clear about their roles and responsibilities. They received feedback on their work in order to improve the quality of the care and support offered to people.

There was a registered manager in place who understood the requirements of their role. They had worked with the provider and staff team to regularly assess the quality of the service.