Mercylink Care Cambridgeshire

At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

About the service

Mercylink Care Cambridgeshire is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. They also provide live-in care support. This means a staff member lives with the person in their own home. The service provided personal care and support to 37 adults at the time of the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People, and their relatives had mixed opinions as to whether they were asked to formally feedback on the quality of the service provided. Staff completed a survey which in the main was positive, however it was unclear how feedback from staff was used to improve the service. Audits were carried out to monitor the quality of the service provided. These audits were not always robust enough to identify all areas needing improvement. The registered manager’s oversight of audits and their findings were not always clear or detailed enough to identify patterns and trends on an ongoing basis.

People’s needs were assessed before they started using the service to ensure their needs could be met in line with current guidance and legislation. Staff were trained, however people had mixed opinions about how competent some new staff were when supporting them. Staff had some spot checks undertaken to check their competency. However, catheter care spot checks had not been completed recently to ensure staff followed this training. Staff were encouraged to discuss and review their performance through supervision and team meetings.

Potential new staff to the service had a series of checks carried out to ensure they were suitable to work with the people they supported. Staff were kind and respectful towards people. Where people or their relatives had raised concerns, these were investigated. There were enough knowledgeable and trained staff to meet people's care and support needs. Staff understood how to keep people safe from poor care and harm. Staff told us they would whistle-blow any concerns they may have to their registered manager or the CQC. Where people wanted to discuss their end of life wishes this information would be recorded to guide staff.

Staff had access to information in peoples' care plans and risk assessments that helped guide them to care and support people effectively. However, risk assessments for catheter care support and or hoisting could be more detailed to help guide staff. Staff told us they were trained in infection prevention and control and followed good practice guidance in relation to this. Systems were in place to learn lessons when an incident, accident or near miss occurred or there was a risk of this.

Staff encouraged people to drink and eat plenty. People were encouraged to make their own choices and these choices were respected. Staff helped promote and maintain people's privacy and dignity. Staff also encouraged people to be as independent as possible and with the support from staff people were able to remain in their own homes. Staff also encouraged people and their relatives, where appropriate, to be involved in discussions around their support and care needs.

The registered manager worked with external health and social care professionals. This would help people to receive joined up care and support. There was a process in place to investigate and resolve complaints wherever possible. The registered manager took actions as a result of learning to try to reduce the risk of recurrence.

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.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 30 June 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. This inspection also was based on the service being unrated since it registered with the CQC.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have identified breaches in relation to Regulation 17(1) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. Whilst there was no evidence of risk of harm to people, quality monitoring systems were not robust enough to accurately monitor and identify areas found requiring improvement. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.