Merit Homecare

Updated 29 October 2019

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 carried out by one inspector and one assistant inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own home.

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

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection site visit activity started on 3 October 2019 and ended on 9 October 2019. We visited the office location on 3 October 2019 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. We contacted people, relatives and staff, with prior permission, on 4, 8 and 9 October 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

We also reviewed the information we held about the service. This included any statutory notifications received. Statutory notifications are specific pieces of information about events, which the provider is required to send to us by law.

We sought feedback from the local authority contracts monitoring and safeguarding adults' teams and reviewed the information they provided. We contacted the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), who commission services from the provider, and the local Healthwatch for their feedback. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people who used the service and one relative about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the registered manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and seven people’s medication records. We looked at two 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.

Updated 29 October 2019

About the service

Merit Homecare is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes. 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. At the time of inspection 282 people were receiving personal care.

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

People and their relatives were positive about the supported provided by staff and commented that staff were kind, respectful and caring. People felt safe and told us that staff made a positive difference to their lives.

There were enough staff to support people safely in line with their assessed needs. People commented that staff always attended visits and there was a continuity of staff. Staff felt that they needed additional support at weekends and the management team were pro-actively addressing this.

People were supported to engage in the local community and to maintain social relationships. Staff encouraged people to be as independent as possible. 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.

People’s needs were fully assessed and reviewed regularly to make sure they were receiving the most appropriate support. Care plans were person centred, individualised and reflected their personal choices.

Risks to people were fully identified and steps put in place for staff to follow to mitigate the risks. Medicines continued to be managed safely and staff followed best practice guidance. Staff had regular checks of their competencies.

Staff received regular training to keep their knowledge and skills at the required level. New staff completed an induction which included the ‘Care Certificate’. The management team provided support to the staff by having regular supervisions, appraisals, meetings and communication updates.

The registered manager was fully aware of their responsibilities and worked closely with partnership agencies to provide a continuous level of care to people.

The quality and assurance systems in place allowed the provider to monitor and continually improve the quality of care provided to people. People, relatives and staff were engaged by the service to find ways for it to develop and improve.

Partnership agencies provided positive feedback about the registered manager and the care provided by staff. People’s care records included guidance and advice from other healthcare professionals.

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 good (published 01 December 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.