Mumby's Live-in Care

Updated 12 February 2019

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 was 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 13, 19 December 2018 and 7 January 2019 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be in to support the inspection. This inspection was undertaken by one inspector and an Expert by Experience who telephoned people who used the service and their relatives to obtain their views. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Before the inspection we reviewed records held by The Care Quality Commission (CQC) which included safeguarding concerns, complaints and statutory notifications. A statutory notification is information about important events which the registered person is required to send us by law. This enabled us to ensure we were addressing potential areas of concern at the inspection. The inspection was informed by feedback from questionnaires completed by a number of people using the service. In addition, we looked at 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. We sought feedback from 20 health and social care staff and other stakeholders and received feedback from five. We spoke with four people and seven relatives by telephone to obtain their views about the care and support provided.

Inspection site visit activity started on 13 December 2019 ending on 7 January 2019. It included visiting the office location on the 13th and 19th December to see the registered manager and office staff; we reviewed care records and policies and procedures. We spoke with the registered manager and operations manager, the training and recruitment managers and six members of care staff. We checked care records for seven people. We checked four care staff files and other records relating to the management of the service. We also visited two people and their care staff in their own homes on 7 January 2019 to gain feedback on their experience.

Updated 12 February 2019

We undertook an announced inspection of Mumby's Homecare Support Limited on 13 December 2018 and 19 December 2018. We told the provider two days before our visit that we were coming to make sure that someone would be available to support the inspection and give us access to records. At the time of our inspection 42 people were receiving a personal care service from the service. Not everyone using Mumby's Homecare Support Limited receives a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. The service was supporting people with a range of needs, including older people with living with a dementia type illness, people with physical disabilities and people living with mental health needs.

At our last inspection we rated the service Good overall. At this inspection we found areas of the service had improved to Outstanding.

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

The effectiveness of the service had improved to Outstanding. The service worked in partnership with other organisations to keep up to date with new research and had developed practice in line with current guidance. Staff were trained to follow best practice and training was developed around people’s individual needs, such as dementia. Training was adapted to meet the needs of care staff to ensure their understanding. Management offered proactive support to care staff enabling people to be supported well. Staff spoke positively about the support they received from their managers. People told us the service was friendly, responsive and well managed. People were supported to eat and drink enough to ensure they received sufficient nutrition and were able to access healthcare services when required to maintain their health. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The leadership and management of the service had improved to Outstanding. Since the previous inspection, the provider had put in measures to optimise how the service was run including expanding management of specific areas to ensure expertise. The provider had a vision to provide high quality person centred support to people. People valued this and staff expressed feeling part of the family led organisation and shared their vision. There were clear systems in place to ensure that the service ran efficiently and safely and regulations were met as required. The service was keen to continuously learn and improve and the provider collaborated with other organisations to increase and improve the provision of live-in care as an alternative to residential care.

People were safe as staff knew the correct procedures to follow if they considered someone was at risk of harm or abuse. Staff had received appropriate safeguarding training and there were policies and procedures in place to follow in case of an allegation of abuse. The provider had safe recruitment procedures in place and conducted background checks to ensure staff were suitable for their role.

Risks to people were identified and plans put in place to minimise these risks. Guidance was in place for staff so that they could mitigate risk, and support people to take sensible risks as safely as possible. People received their prescribed medicines.

There was clear guidance for staff on how to meet people’s individual needs and support them to achieve their goals. Staff treated people with kindness, respect and promoted people's right to privacy.

People were provided with information about how to make a complaint and these were managed in accordance with the provider's complaints policy. The registered provider had informed the CQC of all notifiable incidents.