Background to this inspection
Updated
2 June 2021
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 Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection was completed by one inspector.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was unannounced.
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 prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with three people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, and five care and support staff.
We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We spoke with seven professionals who regularly visit the service.
Updated
2 June 2021
About the service
SeeAbility - Meadowmead Support Services provides personal care and support to people in their own homes.
At the time of our inspection the service was providing a service for nine people with a variety of care needs, including people living with sight loss and learning disabilities. Some people had very limited verbal communication skills.
Not everyone who used the service 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
People felt safe living in their home with support provided by SeeAbility - Meadowmead Support Services, and they were very much at the heart of the service. We received positive feedback from people, relatives and professionals about the care provided.
Overall, improvements had been made to staffing since our last inspection and the service was continuing to recruit the right staff for the people they support.
Relevant recruitment checks were conducted before staff started working at the service to make sure they were of good character and had the necessary skills.
Staff had received training in safeguarding adults and knew how to identify, prevent and report abuse.
Medicines administration records (MAR) confirmed people had received their medicines as prescribed.
Staff received support and one to one sessions or supervision to discuss areas of development. They completed training and felt it supported them in their job role. However, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic had reduced some face to face training and the provider had taken action to minimise the impact on people.
Staff had developed positive and caring relationships with people and their families. Staff were highly motivated and demonstrated a commitment to providing the best quality care to people in a compassionate way.
The provider’s quality assurance system helped the management team implement improvements that would benefit people.
There were appropriate management arrangements in place and relatives and professionals were very positive about the management in the home.
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right Support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
This service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.
Right support:
• Model of care and setting maximises people’s choice, control and independence
Right care:
• Care is person-centred and promotes people’s dignity, privacy and human rights
Right culture:
• Ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 25 May 2019).
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns such as medicines and staffing. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.
We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. Please see the safe, effective and well led sections of this full report.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.