Background to this inspection
Updated
20 April 2021
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 Care Act 2014.
This was a focus inspection to check whether the provider had met the requirements of the Warning Notice in relation to Regulation 12 (Safe care and treatment) and Regulation 17 (Good governance) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 and to also follow up on the Requirement Notice in relation to Regulation 19 (Fit and proper persons employed). We also reviewed other areas which required improvement in the domains of safe and well-led at our last inspection.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by one 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.
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
This inspection was announced.
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 23 March 2021 and ended on 29 March 2021. We visited the office location on 23 March 2021.
What we did before the inspection
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 of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager, assistant manager, care coordinator and one staff member. We spoke with two people who used the service about their experience of the care provided.
We reviewed a range of records including four people’s care records and medication records and a selection of staff files in relation to recruitment and staff development. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.
Updated
20 April 2021
About the service
Multilink Management Care Ltd is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection 15 people were supported with their personal care needs.
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
At our previous inspection in October 2020, we found that effective systems were not being used to monitor the quality of care being provided and safely recruit staff. However, during this inspection, we found the provider had acted on our feedback and implemented their action plan and the regulatory requirements were being met. There was significant improvement to the providers systems to safely manage people’s care and the management and recruitment of staff.
The registered manager had ensured that each person’s care needs had been comprehensively reviewed. People’s support requirements were reflected in their care plans to help guide staff on the actions they should take to help mitigate people’s personal risks. People’s care records were detailed, accurate and reflected their preferences, risks and required support.
Medicines care plans outlined the agreed management of people’s prescribed medicines and creams. Safe infection control practices were used, and staff wore the correct personal protective equipment when they entered people’s homes and supported them with their personal hygiene needs.
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.
Systems to safely recruit staff had been reviewed and implemented. People were supported by sufficient numbers of staff who had been vetted and assessed as being of good character and competent before they provided care to people.
The registered manager sought feedback about people’s experiences of the service. They worked in partnership with people’s families and health care professionals to achieve good outcomes for people.
Quality assurance systems had been reviewed and developed to assist the register manager in monitoring the quality of care being provided and the management and training of staff.
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 4 December 2020) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. 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 was a planned inspection based on the previous rating. This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.
We carried out an announced focused inspection of this service on 8 October 2020. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment, fit proper person employed and good governance.
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements.
The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Multilink Management Care Ltd on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner