Malachi Care Services

Updated 19 October 2022

The inspection

We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.

Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people and staff.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by two inspectors.

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 short notice of the inspection in order for the registered manager to provide us with the documentation we needed to look at.

Inspection activity started on 21st September 2022 and ended on 3rd October 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since it was registered. The provider did not complete the required Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about the service, what it does well and improvements they plan to make.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager, the nominated individual, one person using the service, nine people’s relatives or friends and ten staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included six people’s care records. We looked at four staff files. We reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits, policies and procedures.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 19 October 2022

About the service

Malachi Care Services is a domiciliary care agency providing support for people in their own homes. Not everyone using the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene, eating and administration of medicines. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided. The service was supporting around 40 people at the time of the inspection.

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

Governance arrangements within the service required improvement. The provider did not have adequate systems in place to ensure care was monitored effectively and to drive improvement. The registered manager said they would implement improvements to governance but before the inspection they had failed to recognise improvements were required.

People using the service and their relatives reported a mixed picture in relation to care. Overall they said they liked the care staff and the management team, but felt communication could be improved; some relatives told us they had implemented their own communication books to improve this.

People gave us negative feedback about food provision. They described the meals staff made as very basic and said staff have limited skills, with some not knowing how to operate kitchen equipment.

We have made a recommendation the provider reviews staff skills and knowledge around nutrition and hydration.

Risk was not always safely managed as records in relation to this were not sufficiently detailed. After the inspection the registered manager told us they were implementing improvements to this and gave examples of work they had already carried out.

We have made a recommendation the provider carries out work to review and identify risks.

Medicines and infection control procedures were appropriately followed, with staff receiving training in these areas.

People’s relatives said staff were respectful and kind, although they said continuity of staffing had diminished in recent months.

Staff told us they enjoyed working for the provider and described them as supportive. They told us they received good quality training and felt it equipped them to carry out their roles effectively.

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 in November 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

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

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.