Archived: MiHomecare - Southend-on-Sea

Mihomecare Southend is registered to provide personal care (domiciliary care) to people in their own homes. The service provides care to people who are funded by the local authority and who purchase their care provision privately.

The service had 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 a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Suitable arrangements were in place to ensure that people received appropriate care and support to meet their needs. Staff knew the needs of the people they supported and they were treated with respect and dignity. People’s healthcare needs were well managed and they had access to a range of healthcare professionals.

People’s needs were met by sufficient numbers of staff, calls were always on time and never missed. Suitable arrangements were in place to ensure that staff had been recruited safely and received appropriate opportunities for training and supervision.

People were safeguarded from harm and staff had received training in Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. Where support with meals were required, people were supported to have sufficient amounts of food and drink to ensure that their dietary and nutritional needs were met.

Where this was part of people’s agreed care people were provided with the opportunity to participate and engage in activities of their choice which met their needs. Relatives and people who used the service knew how to make a complaint and we felt assured that all complaints would be dealt with and resolved efficiently and in a timely manner.

The service had a number of ways of gathering people’s views which included holding meetings and reviews with people, staff and relatives. The manager carried out a number of quality monitoring audits to help ensure the service was running effectively and to help them make improvements.

We saw that so far as possible people who were using the service were involved in making decisions about the care and support they received. Each person's care and support package was planned and reviewed so as to ensure that any changes in the person's needs or wishes were accounted for.

There were detailed plans in place for the support and care that people were to receive. Staff received training and supervisions to help enable them to provide safe and effective care. The provider should consider developing the staff training package to ensure that staff are trained to support people who have specific conditions such as epilepsy and people who have a learning disability.

The service had suitable policies and procedures for recognising and reporting any signs or risks of abuse. Staff were trained and those we spoke with were aware of their responsibilities to keep people safe and to report any concerns to the appropriate agencies such as the local safeguarding team and the police.

There were appropriate procedures in place for recruiting workers so that people were supported and cared for by knowledgeable and skilled staff.

We saw that each person's care was planned and delivered in a way that met their needs and took into account their views and experiences. Risks to the health, safety and welfare of people were assessed and managed to help minimise these.

Staff were supported, trained and supervised to help ensure that people who were using the service received safe and proper care and support. People who were using the service told us that they felt safe and that they had no concerns.

Enara Southend had systems in place to regularly monitor and improve the safety and quality of the services it provided.