Elmar Home Care Manchester

Updated 21 October 2023

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 2 inspectors, a medicines inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

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

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave 48 hours' notice of the inspection as we needed to make sure the right people were available to answer our questions.

Inspection activity started on 4 October and ended on 13 October 2023.

What we did before inspection

We used information we had received through our ongoing monitoring of the service and feedback we received from the local authority. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection

We spoke with 5 people who used the service and 12 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 10 members of staff including the provider, registered manager, care manager and 7 care workers. We looked at 9 people's care records and multiple medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including training data and medicines audits were reviewed.

Updated 21 October 2023

About the service

Elmar Home Care Manchester (previously known as Rectory Gardens) is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. The service was supporting 56 people at the time of the inspection, including older people, those living with dementia, people with a physical disability and younger adults.

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.

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

At this inspection we found the service had taken positive steps and implemented systems to improve the quality and safety of the service provided. However further improvements were still required.

We were not assured people always received their medicines as prescribed. The new electronic medicines system did not always provide sufficient detail in respect of people’s medicines. We found not all staff had completed essential training.

The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and make improvements. However, while there had been some improvements since our last inspection, these systems had not enabled the provider to identify and address the issues we found.

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. However, further work was required in this area. Decision specific mental capacity assessments had not always been carried out to establish if people had the ability to make informed decisions.

Electronic systems were used to record people's care and to monitor risk and ensure scheduled visits took place. Call monitoring of people's support had vastly improved. Further improvements in this area were taking place to ensure staff travel time was appropriate for each visit.

Risks to individuals were assessed and monitored, further work was still needed to ensure this process remained personalised for the person. There were systems in place to ensure lessons were learned and shared with staff when things went wrong.

The service was responsive to people's needs, preferences, interests, and communication needs. People felt involved in the planning and delivery of their care.

Complaints were responded to appropriately. People told us they were aware of how to make a complaint and were confident they could express any concerns which would be addressed.

Staff were aware of how to safeguard people from abuse. Systems were in place to prevent and minimise the spread of infections when supporting people. Pre-employment checks had been carried out to ensure staff were suitable to work with people.

We found the management team receptive to feedback and keen to improve the service. The registered manager and provider worked with us in a positive manner and the information we requested were received in a timely manner.

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 (published 06 April 2023).

This service has been in Special Measures since 7 March 2023. During this inspection the provider 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 breaches of regulation identified at the last inspection.

The overall rating for the service has changed from inadequate to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to need for consent, staffing and good governance at this inspection. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.