Mobile Care Services Limited

Updated 19 March 2020

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 was planned to check 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

One inspector and one assistant inspector carried out the inspection.

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 the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave notice of our inspection to the registered manager to ensure they would be available to support the inspection. Inspection activity commenced on 28 February 2020 and ended on 2 March 2020. We undertook a visit to the provider’s office on 2 March 2020.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since our last inspection. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse. We also sought feedback from Local Authorities who were involved in agreeing people’s packages of care between themselves and the provider. As part of the inspection we used information the provider sent to us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all the information to plan our inspection visit.

During the inspection

We had telephone conversations with 24 people and, or, their relatives to gain their feedback about the service. We spoke with seven members of care staff, the business development manager, the registered manager and the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included a review of six people’s plans of care, medication observation records, daily task and managing risks guidance and daily care notes. We also looked at records relating to the governance and managerial oversight of the service. These included quality assurance checks, staff recruitment and training records.

Updated 19 March 2020

About the service

Mobile Care Services Limited is registered to provide personal care to adults in their own homes. At the time of the inspection 306 people received a regulated activity of personal care as part of their support from the provider. This included people living with health conditions and, or, frailty due to older age. At the time of our inspection visit, other services were provided to people. These included cleaning and shopping visits, which we do not regulate.

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

People and their relatives described their care from staff as good. Where concerns were raised these were acted on by the registered manager.

There was consistency in which staff supported people, which meant staff knew people well and how to protect them from risks of harm or injury. Basic risk management information was included in people’s plans of care. The provider had, prior to our inspection, recognised the level of guidance included in risk management plans needed to be more detailed and plans were in place to address this.

Staff were recruited in a safe way and received an induction. Staff were trained and spot checks on their skills were completed.

People and their relatives felt safe with staff in their homes and protected from the risks of abuse. Staff had received training on how to protect people from the risks of abuse and understood the importance of reporting any concerns. The provider understood their legal responsibilities in acting on and in reporting any such incidents.

People had their prescribed medicines available to them and were supported with these as needed by trained care staff. Staff understood the importance of infection prevention and control.

Staff followed professional healthcare guidance where this had been given. People were supported to access healthcare services if required. Staff worked within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and understood the importance of gaining consent from people.

People were supported by staff to meet their nutritional and hydration needs.

Staff demonstrated a caring approach toward people they supported.

People had individual plans of care and were supported by staff who chatted to them about hobbies and interests they had shared in personalised information.

Staff promoted people’s independence and maintained people’s privacy and dignity.

There were systems were in place for people to give their feedback on the service. People and their relatives were involved in planning their care and support.

There were quality assurance systems in place to check the safety and quality of the services. The provider had identified where improvements were needed in people’s plans of care and was acting on this.

Rating at the last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published 13 October 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the rating of the last inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

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