Archived: Mears Care - Congleton ECHS

We inspected Mears Care, Congleton ECHS on the 24 November and 8 December 2016. The inspection was unannounced.

Mears Care, Congleton ECHS is a domiciliary care agency. Support is provided to people living in the Heath View Extra Care Housing Scheme. The service supports people with a range of needs and operates from an office within the housing complex. At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care to 25 people.

At the time of the inspection a registered manager was in place. 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.

People were very positive and complimentary about the service that they received from Mears Care. There had been a recent internal audit carried out by the provider and the registered manager had almost completed a small number of actions that had been identified from that audit. We found the registered manager to be enthusiastic and passionate about the quality of care that the service provided.

Staff had received training in safeguarding and understood their responsibilities to protect people from harm and abuse. Staff knew how to report concerns and told us that they felt able to raise concerns appropriately. People felt safe and told us that they received the support that they needed, in a way that respected their wishes. We found that there were sufficient staff to meet the individual needs of people.

People’s medicines were administered safely. Some people were supported to self-administer medication and routine audits were undertaken to ensure that people received their medication as prescribed by the GP.

We found that staff were skilled, knowledgeable and well trained. They received a thorough induction when they began their employment with the service and received on-going training updates. Staff were supported to develop their knowledge and skills. Regular supervision and appraisals of staff were undertaken.

We found that staff had awareness of and had received training in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). People told us that staff sought their consent for any care tasks. People were supported to make their own decisions whenever possible. We noted that there was an appropriate MCA policy in place and the provider needed to ensure that this policy was fully implemented when necessary.

Staff were kind, caring and compassionate. People told us that staff treated them with dignity and respect. We found that staff had developed effective caring relationships with people.

Care records reflected the support that people needed so that staff could understand how to care for the person appropriately. There was a small and stable staff team and the service was responsive to individual needs. The service was able to increase support to people at times, for example when people were unwell. People were supported to maintain as much independence as possible.

People knew who the registered manager was and felt able to raise any concerns with her. Staff told us that they felt well supported and that the service was well organised. There were quality assurance systems in place which ensure that the quality of the service was monitored. The registered manager demonstrated that she was focused on continuous improvement. People’s views about the service were sought on a regular basis.

The people we spoke with told us that their support needs were being met and that they liked the staff members supporting them. The two people who came to the agency office during our visit told us, 'the girls are very good, very comfortable with them' and 'I am more than happy with them, no complaints'. A visiting relative also told us, 'I asked my relative if the carers were the same if I wasn't here and she said yes'.

The people we visited in their own flats also spoke positively about the service being provided to them, comments included: 'no concerns about the staff, lovely' and 'very satisfied with them, staff are nice and affable'.

Mears Care had a safeguarding policy in place. This included local procedures which staff would follow if they needed to report an alleged incident.

People were cared for by staff members who were supported to deliver care and treatment safely and to an appropriate standard.

The operations manager explained that because of the registered manager's absence from work she and the relief manager needed to undertake a review of the auditing systems in order to ensure that the support plans, staff training, and supervision of all staff members was up to date.