Archived: People Matter Support Services

People Matter Support Services is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. It provides a service to older people, younger adults and also those with learning disabilities and/or those on the autistic spectrum. Not everyone using the service receives personal care. The Care Quality Commission only inspects the service being received by people provided with help with tasks related to personal care, hygiene and eating.

This service moved its office to a new address on 1 February 2020. When the office moved there was no change to the service provided, registered manager or care staff.

People’s experience of using this service

At the last inspection in July 2019 we found there were breaches of five regulations. At this inspection we found the registered person had taken positive steps and implemented systems to improve the quality and safety of the service provided. The registered person had hired an external consultant to support them with this implementation. Our findings demonstrated that the steps taken, and systems put in place were satisfactory in terms of ensuring people had safe effective care. This meant that the ratings for all five key questions and the overall rating for the service has improved at this inspection.

However, since the last inspection the provider had failed to consistently meet some conditions on their registration, namely to send the commission a monthly report on the first day of every month related to the areas of concern identified at the last inspection. Failure to comply with a condition of registration is a potential offence, this means that well-led cannot be rated better than requires improvement.

The registered person, with the support of the external consultant, was clear on the improvements that were still needed and understood that the systems and processes that were now in place were relatively new and further time, training and support was needed to ensure that they were embedded, and improvement sustained. We will check that improvements made have been sustained at our next planned comprehensive inspection.

Care staff recruitment had improved, and the registered person had introduced a new checking system to ensure full compliance with regulatory requirements. However, on inspection we did find some missing information in two files. This was rectified soon after the inspection. The management and monitoring of people’s risks had improved and people and their relatives told us that they felt safe.

People were supported by well-trained care staff. All care staff had the necessary training to meet people’s needs. People and their relatives told us that they thought the care staff were well trained.

People were treated with kindness and respect. This was validated by the feedback we received from people and their relatives.

People received care and support that was personalised. A new electronic care planning system had been introduced. The registered person, with the support of the external consultant, had re-assessed all of the people who use the service and recorded in depth information regarding their care needs, preferences and wishes. People's rights to make their own decisions were protected. They were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and care staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests.

People benefited from an improved quality assurance system being in place. This meant that the registered person’s oversight of all the service’s functions, including recruitment, training, medicines management and care planning was now more robust.

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 inadequate (report published 27 September 2019) and there were multiple breaches of regulations. At this inspection we found the registered person had made improvements and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations in relation to the service provided to the seven people who currently use the service.

This service has been in Special Measures since 27 September 2019. During this inspection the registered person demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating of inadequate. As part of this inspection we also assessed whether the provider had taken the actions necessary to meet the regulation breaches identified at the last 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.