Fortress Care Ltd

Updated 22 December 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

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector and 1 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 and specialist housing.

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 a short period 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 activity started on 27 November 2023 and ended on 6 December 2023. We visited the location’s office on 29 November 2023.

What we did before inspection

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. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 7 people who used the service and 7 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 11 members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, HR manager, care co-ordinator, care workers and nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 7 people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at records in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.

Updated 22 December 2023

About the service

My Homecare Manchester is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to older people and younger adults with various needs, including people living with learning disabilities and dementia. At the time of this inspection 103 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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

Right Support:

People received good quality care. The care plans provided guidance for staff about how best to support people's needs and preferences. Staff focused on people's strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life. People’s communication needs were met.

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, the systems in the service did not always support this practice. The provider had no specific mental capacity assessments in place. We have made a recommendation about the provider reviewing their systems in place to work within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA).

Right Care:

People received person-centred care of a good standard. People received kind and compassionate care. Staff were kind, caring and understanding. However, some people told us staff were not always respectful as they spoke in their mother tongue with each other whilst delivering care. We fed this back to the registered manager who assured us they would take necessary action and address this with staff.

Staff understood and responded to people’s individual needs. People's care needs were risk assessed and care plans provided staff with the information they needed to manage identified risks. People were protected from the risks of abuse and staff were trusted to keep them safe. Staff had received training in how to safeguard people. Medicines were managed safely.

Right Culture:

The culture of the service was friendly, open and inclusive. Person-centred values were embedded into the service and staff members we spoke with. People's choices were respected, and staff supported them to achieve good outcomes. Staff said they enjoyed their roles and the relationships between staff and people was positive. People told us they felt safe and knew how to raise concerns.

Overall, the provider ensured the safety and quality of the service was effectively assessed. However, there were areas which needed further development. The provider and registered manager were responsive to issues raised at the time of the inspection.

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 1 December 2017).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation about the provider reviewing their systems in place to work within the principles of the MCA.

Follow up

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