Background to this inspection
Updated
2 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 two inspectors and an expert by experience. An Expert by Experience (EXE) is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. They made telephone calls to discuss people's experiences of the care and support received.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
A new manager had been appointed by the provider and was currently in the process of completing their application to register as the manager
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or 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 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.
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service.
During the inspection-
We spoke with four people who used the service and six relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the new manager and the regional manager.
We reviewed a range of records. This included seven people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three 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.
After the inspection –
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We contacted two professionals following our visit.
Updated
2 October 2019
About the service
Manorcourt Homecare is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of this inspection 110 people were using the service.
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
People received safe care. Risks were assessed, and staff knew people they supported very well. The previous registered manager had recently left the service and a new manager had been appointed. The new manager assured us that they were looking at care plans to make sure they were reviewed and current, so staff could refer to these for information if needed. The manager told us they had started to visit people in their own homes to check that the level of service provided was to standard and that care plans reflected this care.
Staff understood their responsibility to protect people in their care from abuse and report any concerns they had. People were supported to take their medicines safely and there were enough staff available to support people's needs. Following the inspection we were informed that some staff had unexpectedly left the service and as a result the manager had handed some care packages back to the local authority. A representative from the local authority told us they had never had any previous concerns with this provider and they were only handing back packages to remain sustainable and to keep people safe.
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 and relatives described staff as kind and caring. People had consistency in the staff who undertook their care calls, and this helped promote an understanding of how people liked their support delivered.
There were quality assurance and auditing processes in place and they contributed to service
improvements. Action plans were carried out and those responsible kept things up to date.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
The last rating for this service was good (published 24 January 2018).
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.