Marches Home Care Services

Updated 13 April 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:

This inspection visit was carried out by one adult social care inspector. The adult social care inspector was supported by an Expert by Experience who made telephone calls to people and relatives to gain feedback about people’s experiences. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The expert by experience who supported this inspection had knowledge of caring for an older person.

Service and service type:

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to adults living in their own homes.

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 to be sure the registered provider, staff and people they supported would be available to speak with us.

Inspection site visit activity started and ended on 06 March 2019. We visited the office location on 06 March 2019 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. We made telephone calls to people and relatives on 06 and 14 March 2019.

What we did:

Before the inspection took place, we reviewed information we held about the service. This included previous inspection reports and notifications submitted by the provider relating to incidents, accidents, health and safety and safeguarding concerns which affect the health and wellbeing of people who used the service. We also spoke with the local authority contracts and commissioning teams and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is a national independent champion for people who use healthcare services. This allowed us to gain information relating to the quality and safety of service being provided. We used this information to develop our inspection plan.

During the inspection we spoke with two people and seven relatives by telephone. We spoke with three members of care staff, the registered manager, a director, the training coordinator, the care manager and a care coordinator.

We visited the office and looked at a variety of records. This included care records relating to three people who used the service. We also looked at information related to the management of the service. This included quality audits, records of accidents, incidents and complaints and recruitment files of four staff. We did this to ensure the registered manager had oversight on the service and to ensure the service was appropriately managed.

Following the inspection visit we spoke with one health and social care professional to find out their views on Marches Home Care Services Limited.

Updated 13 April 2019

About the service:

Marches Home Care Services Limited is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our visit 28 people were being supported with personal care in their own home.

People’s experience of using this service:

We were repeatedly told by people and relatives that Marches Home Care Service Limited was very well-led. We found evidence during the inspection process which confirmed this was the case. The registered provider was committed to developing a service which was person-centred and responsive to people’s needs. There were strong links with the community to improve the health and well-being of people in general.

Everyone we spoke with said they would recommend the service to other people. They told us staff often went above and beyond to ensure people were happy and safe.

There was an emphasis on ensuring people were supported by an experienced and qualified staff team who knew people well. Training was individualised and developed around people’s needs. Additionally, the in-house trainer understood the importance of adapting training to meet individual staff learning styles. People said they were assured staff were experienced and appropriately trained.

People and relatives said individuals who used Marches Home Care Services Limited experienced positive outcomes. We reviewed compliments received by the service and saw people and family members had repeatedly praised the service for the improvements made to people’s lives.

People and relatives who used the service told us they were more than happy with the service provided. Staff were described as reliable, kind and caring.

People told us they felt safe when being supported by staff. Staff were aware of their responsibilities in reporting and responding to abuse and said they would not hesitate in reporting any unsafe or abusive practice. Staff told us the registered manager understood the importance of creating a culture where people were free from abuse and harassment.

When asked, everyone said they were happy with the processes for managing their medicines. Medicines were managed in line with good practice guidance.

We found risk was appropriately managed and addressed to minimise the risk of possible harm. When risks had been identified we saw good practice guidance had been referred to, to promote safe and effective practice.

People were consulted with about all aspects of their care and support. We saw one person and their family member had written their own care plan based upon their life history, likes and preferences. This had been incorporated into the person’s care record.

The registered manager worked proactively to ensure individual concerns were identified and acted upon before they became a complaint. People told us they had never had any reason to complain but were confident any complaints would be dealt with effectively and professionally should they ever need to.

We saw evidence of multi-agency working to meet people’s health care needs. The registered manager said they were proud of the relationships they had developed with members of the multi-disciplinary team.

Rating at last inspection:

Good (16 July 2016)

Why we inspected:

This was a planned and scheduled inspection.

Follow up:

The next scheduled inspection will be in keeping with the overall rating. We will continue to monitor information we receive from and about the service. We may inspect sooner if we receive concerning information about the service

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