Melody Care Aldershot Ltd

Melody Care Aldershot Ltd is a domiciliary care service providing personal care. The service provides support to adults, who may have a physical disability, sensory impairment or learning disability. They also support people living with dementia, people who misuse substances, people with a mental health diagnosis and people with an eating disorder. At the time of our inspection there were 54 people 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 were happy overall with the care they received. Feedback included, “I think they are doing a good job” and “I’m very satisfied.” Some people felt aspects of communication and the timing of some calls could be improved. The registered manager was aware and action was being taken.

There were sufficient competent staff to ensure people received the support they required. The provider took prompt action after the site visit to ensure all staff recruitment information was available. Potential risks to people had been assessed and staff understood what to report and to whom. People were protected against the risk of abuse. Processes were in place for the reporting and reviewing of incidents. Processes were in place to protect people from the risk of acquiring an infection. People received their medicines safely.

The provider had clear objectives for the delivery of people’s care and worked alongside other agencies and professionals to meet people’s care needs safely. Processes were in place to monitor the delivery of people’s calls from day to day in order to identify and address any issues and to audit aspects of the service.

The provider’s purchase of 2 additional agencies this year had created challenges, as people and staff adjusted. The focus throughout has remained on achieving good outcomes for people. The registered manager was experienced in their role, they understood and managed potential risks to people’s care. The views of people and staff were sought using various methods.

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, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was good (published 30 October 2018).

Why we inspected

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

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service remains the same. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Melody Care Aldershot Ltd on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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

Melody Care Aldershot is a domiciliary care agency; it provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to older and younger adults who may be living with a physical disability, a mental health condition, a learning disability or people living with dementia. At the time of the inspection, 85 people were using the service.

The service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

There was guidance in place to protect people from the risks of harm and abuse. Staffing levels were sufficient to support people safely and where there were any short falls these were covered internally. The provider had an effective recruitment process to make sure the staff they employed were suitable to work in a care setting.

Risks to people were assessed and action was taken to minimise any avoidable harm. Medicines were managed safely and administered as prescribed and staff had regular competency checks.

Staff ensured people were protected from the risk of acquiring an infection during the provision of their personal care. Processes were in place to ensure any incidents were reflected upon and relevant changes made for people’s future safety.

People's needs had been assessed and they had a care plan to meet their identified needs. Staff were trained to support people with an array of health care needs, in line with recognised best practice. People were supported by staff who had the required skills and training to meet their needs. Where required, staff completed additional training to meet individual's needs. People were supported to eat and drink sufficient for their needs.

Staff worked both within the service and across organisations to ensure people received effective care. People were supported by staff to ensure their healthcare needs were met and healthcare professionals’ guidance was followed.

The registered manager and staff understood their responsibilities in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). The service did not currently support any individuals who required assessments under the MCA.

People reported they were treated in a kind and caring manner by staff. People were supported by staff to express their views and to be involved in decisions about their care. People's independence was promoted by staff who encouraged them to do as much for themselves as possible. Staff treated people with dignity and respect and were sensitive to their needs regarding equality, diversity and their human rights.

The service was responsive and involved people in developing their care plans, which were detailed and personalised to ensure their individual preferences were known. People's care plans had information about people's care needs, their wishes regarding independence and any risks identified and how to minimise these. If a person's needs changed then their care plans were updated immediately.

Arrangements were in place to obtain the views of people and their relatives and a complaints procedure was available for people and their relatives to use if they had the need.

The service was well managed and well-led by the registered manager who provided clear and direct leadership, which inspired staff to provide good quality care. The safety and quality of the support people received were effectively monitored and any identified shortfalls were acted upon to drive continuous improvement of the service.