We carried out an announced inspection of the service on 12 January 2016. Caremark (Mansfield) is registered to provide personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection the service was providing the regulatory activity of personal care to 79 people.
On the day of our inspection there was a registered manager 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 supported by staff who made them feel safe when they were in their home. Regular assessments of the risks to people’s safety were conducted and regularly reviewed. Care plans were in place to address those risks. Appropriate checks of staff suitability to work at the service had been conducted prior to them commencing their role. People were supported by staff who understood the risks associated with medicines.
Staff completed an induction prior to commencing their role and received regular supervision of their work. Staff felt supported by the registered manager and received regular training to enable them to support people effectively.
The registered manager was aware of the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (2005). People were able to make choices and staff respected their wishes.
People were encouraged to eat healthily and any excess loss or gain in weight was reported by staff to the registered manager. People were happy with the way staff supported them with their meals. People’s day to day health needs were met by the staff. Before referrals were made to external health services this was discussed with people to gain their approval.
People told us they thought the staff were kind and caring, treated them with respect and dignity and listened to and acted on their wishes.
People were provided with the information they needed that enabled them to contribute to decisions about their support. People were not currently provided with information about how they could access independent advocates to support them with decisions about their care.
People’s care records were written in a way that ensured their aims and wishes were reflected throughout. People’s records were regularly reviewed. People and their relatives where appropriate, were involved with planning the care and support provided. People were provided with the information they needed if they wished to make a complaint and they felt their complaint would be acted on.
The registered manager led the service well and understood their responsibilities, however, they had not had not always ensured the CQC were notified of incidents that had occurred.
People and staff spoke highly of the registered manager. There were a number of processes in place to gain the feedback of people and staff in order for the service to develop and improve. There were a number of quality assurance processes in place that regularly assessed the quality and effectiveness of the support provided.