Meridian Health and Social Care - Manchester

Updated 25 May 2022

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 an inspector and an 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.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

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 registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 25 April 2022 and ended on 6 May 2022. We visited the location’s office on 27 April 2022.

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 nine people who used the service and 12 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff, including the registered manager and four members of care staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included eight people’s care records and 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.

Updated 25 May 2022

About the service

Meridian Health and Social Care - Manchester is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. 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. At the time of our inspection there were 220 people using the service of whom 190 were receiving the regulated service of personal care.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Although engagement was generally good, some people said the on-call (out of hours) service, was not always accessible when they required it. This was addressed immediately.

People’s care and support needs were thoroughly assessed. Care files included relevant health and personal information to help ensure appropriate care. The service worked with other health and social care agencies and professionals to help ensure all care needs were met.

People told us staff were kind and respectful. Care was person-centred and people’s wishes, for example, how they liked to be addressed and how they wanted their support to be provided, were respected. People’s individual methods of communication were documented and used by staff. People were supported to express their views and their independence was encouraged and promoted as far as possible.

There were systems in place to help safeguard people from the risk of abuse. Risks were assessed, managed, reviewed and updated as required. Medicines were managed safely by the service. The service had appropriate measures in place to help prevent and control the spread of infection.

Staff were recruited safely and there were sufficient staff to meet the needs of the people being supported. Staff received a thorough induction and comprehensive on-going training programme.

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.

The service gave open and honest responses to complaints and concerns. Feedback was sought from people who used the service and their relatives. Audits and checks took place regularly. All these actions helped the service continually learn and improve service delivery.

The service worked in partnership with other agencies and professionals to help ensure good, joined up care for people using the service.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 12 October 2020 and this is the first inspection. The last rating for the service under the previous provider was good, published on 4 January 2019.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection to look at all five domains and to rate the service.

Follow up

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