Mettle and Bond Care Ltd

Updated 16 March 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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by 1 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 provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

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

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We reviewed information we had received about the service since it was registered in March 2022. We spoke with the local authority about the service to obtain their views.

During the inspection

We spoke with 1 person who used the service to obtain their views on the care they received and 8 relatives. We spoke with 6 staff which included the registered manager, care staff and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of documents. This included the care plans for 6 people in varying detail, numerous medicines records, 4 staff files in relation to their recruitment and various other documentation relating to the running of the service, such as training and supervision records and audits.

Following the inspection, we spoke with 1 social care professional and received feedback from 1 healthcare professional.

Updated 16 March 2023

About the service

Mettle and Bond Care Ltd (Mettle and Bond) is a domiciliary care agency that provides 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. There were 16 people receiving the regulated activity of personal care at the time of our inspection.

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

People were cared for by a sufficient number of staff who were given enough time to spend with people and travel time between calls, which helped them arrive on time.

Staff were given sufficient guidance around people; their care needs and potential risks. This enabled them to help ensure people remained safe in their own home whilst receiving appropriate, person-centred care.

People received their medicines in line with their prescriptions and staff worked with the GP, as well as other healthcare professionals to review people’s medicines, or to seek additional support for a person in relation to their health.

People were cared for by staff who received appropriate training. This helped ensure staff were confident and competent in their role. Staff were able to describe what they would do should they suspect a person was the subject of abuse. They were also able to tell us how they treated people with dignity, encouraged their independence and enabled people to give their consent and make their own decisions in relation to their care.

Where people needed it, they were provided with sufficient food and drink by staff. There was information in people’s care records around their likes and dislikes in relation to food and drink which helped staff support them in lines with their wishes.

Staff were given sufficient information to enable them to provide care in line with people’s requirements. This included social aspects of their daily living as staff accompanied people to the shops or out into their local community.

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.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

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 (RSRCRC), as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group. We found people who had a learning disability, but did not receive the regulated activity of personal care, were being provided with care in line with RSRCRC.

People were happy with the care they received from Mettle and Bond staff. They were given regular opportunity to feedback their views on the service and they were provided with clear information on how to make a complaint should the need arise. Information was also available in easy-read and other formats to help people understand.

Management had a clear drive to grow and improve their service to make it an outstanding provision; one that was well-known in the area for its quality.

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 24 March 2022 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection to look at the overall safety and quality of the service and to provide a rating.

Follow up

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