Manchester Primecare

Updated 17 February 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 team consisted of 1 inspector.

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

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small and we wanted to ensure the registered manager, staff and the people the provider supported were available to speak with us.

Inspection activity started on 6 February 2023 and ended on 9 February 2023 We visited the location’s office on 7 February 2023.

What we did before the 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 the registered manager, the deputy manager, a director of the service, 1 person who uses the service and a relative. We sent staff members a questionnaire via email and received 4 responses.

We reviewed two care records and multiple medication records. We reviewed two staff recruitment records and information pertaining to staff induction, training and supervision. We also reviewed audits to monitor and improve the service, policies and procedures, improvement plans, and feedback received.

Updated 17 February 2023

About the service

Manchester Primecare is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to 5 people at the time of the inspection. The service provides support to older people and younger adults.

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 supported safely. Risks were identified and mitigated. Staff understood strategies to reduce risks to people. Medicines were safely managed. People were assessed to ensure the correct medicines support was implemented. Safeguarding arrangements were robust, and staff were confident to raise any concerns. Incidents were recorded and analysed to reduce further occurrences. Infection control was well managed.

Assessments were completed to ensure the provider could meet people’s needs. Where support was required with eating and drinking or health interventions, this was clearly captured in the person’s care plan. Staff received a full induction linked to The Care Certificate when commencing employment with the provider. The Care Certificate is an agreed set of standards that define the knowledge, skills and behaviours expected of specific job roles in the health and social care sectors. It is made up of the 15 minimum standards that should form part of a robust induction programme. Inhouse and online training was completed annually by staff. Regular spot checks and supervision were completed by the registered manager on staff.

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.

Staff were caring and had built positive relationships with the people they supported. People felt they were provided with dignified care and spoke positively about the staff and the registered manager.

Care plans were detailed and gave clear guidance for staff to support people effectively. Care plans were regularly reviewed to ensure they were factual and up to date. The provider had a robust complaints management process in place. No complaints had been received since the last inspection. The provider was not actively supporting anyone who was at the end of their life, however, there were policies and procedures in place to support end of life care and staff had received training to enhance their knowledge.

The provider had embedded many improvements across the service since the last inspection. Audits to monitor the service were completed monthly and any to do actions were captured and added to the provider’s improvement plan. Staff felt well support by the registered manager and enjoyed working for the provider. The provider had been working with the local authority to improve outcomes for the people they support.

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 requires improvement (published 1 April 2022). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

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

Follow up

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