Archived: Manchester

Updated 10 May 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is 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.

Inspection team:

The inspection team consisted of one adult social care inspector from the Care Quality Commission (CQC). An inspection manager also attended to observe the inspection.

Service and service type:

Manchester is a domiciliary care service. People receive care and support in their own homes from staff who work for the service. CQC does not regulate the buildings in which people live, therefore this would not form part of our inspection.

The service had a manager at the time of the inspection, who was appropriately registered with the CQC.

Notice of inspection:

The inspection was announced 48 hours prior to our visit in line with our inspection methodology to ensure it could be facilitated on this day by the registered manager.

What we did:

Prior to the inspection we reviewed information and evidence we already held about the service, which had been collected via our ongoing monitoring of care services. This included notifications sent to us by the service. Notifications are changes, events or incidents that the provider is legally obliged to send to us without delay. We also asked for feedback from the local authority and professionals who worked closely with the service.

During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager, two care staff, three people who used the service and two relatives. We visited each of the three people we spoke with at their own home and also looked at how their medication was administered to ensure this was done safely.

We reviewed four care plans, three staff personnel files, three medicine administration records (MAR) and other records about the management of the service to help inform our inspection judgements about the service.

Updated 10 May 2019

About the service:

Manchester is a domiciliary care service based in Salford and provides care to people within their own homes, predominantly in the Trafford area of Greater Manchester. The service is operated by Olive Healthcare Solutions Limited and their headquarters are based in Mansfield.

Rating at last inspection:

Our last inspection of Manchester was in August 2018. The overall rating at this inspection was inadequate, including the key questions safe and well-led, and the service was placed into special measures. This also resulted in the local authority no longer offering new packages of care to the service until standards improved.

At the August 2018 inspection we identified regulatory breaches in relation to safeguarding people who used the service from abuse and improper treatment, receiving and acting on complaints, fit and proper persons employed and staffing. We also issued two warning notices relating to safe care and treatment and good governance. The service then sent us an action plan, telling us how they intended to improve to meet regulatory requirements.

People’s experience of using this service at this inspection:

We carried out this comprehensive inspection on 14 and 19 March 2019. At the time of the inspection there were five people using the service.

We found the service had improved in all areas since our last inspection and this was reflected in the feedback we received from both people who used the service and their relatives.

People said they felt as a result of the care they received, with staff demonstrating a good understanding about how to protect people from the risk of harm.

Staff were recruited safely, with appropriate checks carried out to ensure there were no risks presented to people using the service.

There were enough staff to care for people safely and people told us staff always arrived to deliver their care. When staff were going to be late they were kept informed by the service.

People received their medication as prescribed.

Staff received the appropriate induction, training and supervision to support them in their role.

People received the support they required to eat and drink at meal times.

People who used the service and their relatives made positive comments about the care provided. The feedback we received from people we spoke with was that staff were kind and caring in their approach.

People said they felt they were treated with dignity and respect and that staff promoted their independence as required.

Complaints were handled appropriately, with an appropriate complaints system now in place.

Appropriate systems were now in place to monitor the quality of service being provided, with a number of audits, spot checks and competency assessments used to check the quality of service being provided.

We have made a recommendation for the service to develop more community links within the local area.

We received positive feedback from everybody we spoke with about management and leadership within the service. Staff said they felt supported and could approach the registered with any concerns they had about their work.

More information is in the detailed findings below.

Why we inspected:

This inspection was carried out to check if standards of care had improved since we last inspected the service in August 2018 when regulatory requirements were not being adhered to. The inspection was also to check that the two warning notices regarding safe care and treatment and good governance had been met.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor information and intelligence we receive about the service to ensure good quality care is provided to people. We will return to re-inspect in line with our inspection timescales for ‘Good’ rated services, however if any further information of concern is received, we may inspect sooner.