Archived: Mears Care - Bristol ECHS

Updated 15 July 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide an updated rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 20 and 22 June 2017 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure there would be someone available to support our inspection.

The inspection was carried out by one adult social care 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. Prior to the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service including the Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that the provider completes to tell us about what they do well and what they wish to improve. We also looked at notifications. Notifications are information about specific events the provider is required to send us by law.

As part of our inspection we spoke with 14 people using the service, or their relatives. We spoke with five care staff, the coordinator for domiciliary care and the registered manager. We also received feedback from two professionals involved in the service.

We reviewed care records for five people and looked at other records relating to the running of the service such as quality monitoring, staff recruitment and supervision records and records relating to an accreditation received by the service.

Updated 15 July 2017

The inspection took place on 20 and 22 June 2017 and was an announced inspection. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice. At our last inspection in April 2015 the service was rated as Good. At this inspection, we rated the service as Outstanding.

The service provides personal care to people living in an extra care housing scheme. People live in their own flats within the complex and staff are based on site to deliver their commissioned care packages. The service also provides personal care to people in their own homes within a small radius of the office. Throughout the report we refer to the extra care housing scheme as ECHS and those people receiving care in their homes outside of the complex are described as receiving ‘domiciliary care’. This is how staff distinguished between the two aspects of the service.

There was a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We found the service to be very well led. The registered manager had embedded a strong person centred ethos throughout the service. This was reflected in the Customer Service Excellence (CSE) accreditation that the registered manager had been part of achieving. We found clear examples of how this approach to care had impacted on people. For one person, the registered manager had supported them to make contact with family that lived abroad and this had resulted in family flying over to attend the person’s birthday.

Staff and other professionals spoke very highly of the registered manager and gave positive feedback about their approach to caring for people. The registered manager told us they were passionate about providing social and community engagement opportunities for people they supported and this was evident throughout our inspection. The registered manager was innovative and proactive in their approach to finding ways to enhance people’s lives through social activities. This was achieved through applying for and being awarded funding; this included a grant from the National Lottery to provide community activities for people. The impact of these opportunities was clear for people as they told us about the difference this had made to their lives.

The service often went above and beyond their contractual obligations to ensure people had a good quality of care. This was evident in feedback we received and the feedback we viewed from the service’s own quality monitoring measures. Comments included, “We would like to say a special thank you to X (staff) and X (staff) who were with him at the end. The way they handled their job was above and beyond and earned the love and respect of our whole family”. Another comment was “Thank you so much for all the love and care you have given to mum and as a family. You really have gone above and beyond”.

People receiving support from the service were safe. There were sufficient numbers of staff to meet their needs and ensure their calls happened at the right times. There were processes in place to ensure people received their medicines as prescribed.

Staff had good links with healthcare professionals to ensure people’s health needs were met. People had clear information in their support plans about their dietary needs.

Staff received good training and support and their performance was monitored. This included senior staff undertaking ‘spot check’ of care staff carrying out care, to ensure this was done safely and in a person centred way.