MMR Homecare Ltd

Updated 29 March 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector and one expert by experience who interviewed people who used the service and relatives over the telephone on 14th and 15th March 2019. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses domiciliary care services.

Service and service type:

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to older adults and younger disabled adults.

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 for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small, and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

What we did:

We reviewed information we had received about the service since registering with the CQC. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse. We sought feedback from the local authority and other professionals who work with the service. We assessed the 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 this information to plan our inspection.

We spoke with one person who received personal care and two relatives to ask about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with three members of staff, including the registered manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people's care records and medicine records. We looked at four staff files around staff recruitment. We looked at records in relation to training and supervision of staff, records relating to the management of the home and a variety of policies and procedures developed and implemented by the provider.

Updated 29 March 2019

About the service: MMR Homecare Limited is a small domiciliary care service that provides support and personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting four people with personal care.

People’s experience of using this service: Relatives told us they felt they received care in a safe way. Individual risks to people and the environment had been identified and assessed and measures were put in place to manage them and minimise the risk of avoidable harm occurring. Staff showed a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities for keeping people safe from harm. Medicines were managed safely by trained staff who ensured that people received medicines at the right time. Sufficient numbers of suitably qualified and skilled staff were deployed to meet people's individual needs.

People's needs and choices were assessed and planned for. Staff had received a range of training and support to enable them to carry out their role safely. Relatives told us they received the right care and support from staff who were well trained and competent. People received support to maintain good nutrition and hydration and their healthcare needs were understood and met. Records relating to consent for care were accurately completed and people told us they were always offered choice and control over the care they received.

Staff were motivated to deliver care in a person-centred way based on people's preferences and likes. Staff treated people with kindness, compassion and respect and ensured that people's dignity was always maintained. People spoke positively about the care and support they received. Relatives told us their relative received support from regular staff who knew them well. They told us staff always arrived on time and stayed the right amount of time.

Care plans identified intended outcomes for people and how they were to be met in a way they preferred. Care was delivered in a personalised way which was in line with information recorded in people's care plans. Relatives knew how to make a complaint and they were confident about complaining should they need to. They were confident that their complaint would be listened to and acted upon quickly.

The leadership of the service promoted person centred care and a positive culture within the staff team. Relatives and staff all described the registered manager as supportive and approachable.

The registered manager showed a continued desire to improve on the service and displayed knowledge and understanding around the importance of working closely with other agencies and healthcare professionals where needed. Systems and processes were in place to show that regular effective quality assessments were carried out and improvements were made if required.

Rating at last inspection: This was the first inspection since registering with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in April 2018.

Why we inspected: This was a planned comprehensive inspection.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we received about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information was received, we may inspect sooner.

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