MidCo Care

Updated 10 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 one 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 not a registered manager in post. An experienced senior manager was overseeing the service.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. Inspection activity started on 05 April and ended on 07 April. We visited the office location on 5 April 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service, including notifications the provider must tell us about, for example safeguarding concerns. We sought feedback from the health and social care professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We spoke with six other members of staff including the head of operations, quality assurance staff, coordinator and care workers. We received written feedback from five other staff members. We spoke with five people who use the service and five relatives about their experience of the care provided. We reviewed a range of records, including five peoples’ assessments and care records. We looked at five staff files in relation to recruitment, training and staff supervision. We also reviewed policies, procedures, complaints and compliments.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at accidents, incidents and safeguarding data, meeting notes, training records and the service user guide.

Updated 10 May 2022

About the service

MidCo Care is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people living in their own homes. 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. The service was providing personal care to 19 people at the time of the inspection.

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

People were protected from abuse and avoidable harm; staff had completed training in safeguarding and recognising signs of abuse. Risks to people were managed, such as medicines and infection control. People and their relatives told us they felt safe with the service. One person said, “I feel very safe, they’re very good.” A relative said, “One hundred percent safe, yes. We’ve had some great [care workers].”

Peoples’ needs were assessed and person-centred care plans developed with them. Care workers had enough information to provide safe care for people. Staff had been recruited safely and attended training to prepare them for their role. Staff had access to policies and procedures to guide them in their day to day work. Care plans were monitored and reviewed regularly.

People and their relatives told us care workers were kind and caring. One person said, “Absolutely brilliant. Nothing is too much trouble for them.” One relative said, “They are very kind. The other day after they left, they brought [relative] flowers. There’s often flowers there.”

The management team was committed to providing a high-quality service and worked in partnership with other professionals, such as the local authority. Managers carried out appropriate checks to ensure the quality of the service was continually reviewed and where necessary improved.

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.

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 27/10/2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the timescales for unrated services.

Follow up

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