Medacs Healthcare PLC

Updated 4 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

This inspection was carried out by three inspectors and an Expert by Experience. 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 we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 16 January 2023 and ended on 26 January 2023. We visited the location’s office on 18 January 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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. We also used information gathered as part of monitoring activity that took place on 17/11/2022 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements.

During the inspection

We spoke with 9 people who used the service, 6 family members and 11 staff including the registered manager, the lead trainer and 1 care co-ordinator and 1 quality officer. We reviewed a range of records. This included 9 people's care records and medication records. We looked at 5 staff recruitment files and a variety of records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 4 March 2023

About the service

Medacs Healthcare PLC is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care. At the time of our inspection there were 93 people using the service. Everyone who used the service, at the time of our inspection, 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

Risks to people’s health and safety were assessed but related documentation had not always been completed. Some care records needed to be updated and better organised to make sure staff were using up to date information about people’s needs. The registered manager had identified this issue and was addressing it. Staff were recruited safely and the registered manager took immediate action to address an issue we identified in making sure staff, new to the service, followed an effective induction process. Some improvements were needed to make sure required documentation in relation to managing medicines was in place.

Staff knew what to do to make sure people were safe and the service managed safeguarding issues well. Staff felt there were enough of them to meet people’s needs safely. People told us they felt safe with staff and were complimentary of the care they received. One person was concerned that not all staff stayed for the correct amount of time.

Systems to audit quality and safety within the service at branch and provider level were in place but needed some improvement to make sure they covered all aspects of the service. Where auditing had identified issues, action had been taken to find the cause and address the issue. The provider used this process to learn lessons for future improvement of the service.

Whilst some people and their relatives told us they had been involved in their care planning, others were not aware of their current care plan or how to access the App used to view their or, where appropriate, their relatives care plan and care records.

Some people told us their opinions of the service were sought but others said not. People and staff felt they were listened to by the management team and some felt communication from them was good. All of the people we spoke with felt the service was well managed and many said they would recommend it.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was good (published 01/01/2019). The rating has now changed to requires improvement.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led.

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. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Medacs Healthcare PLC on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.