Archived: MCMH Cornwall

MCMH Cornwall is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection 21 people were using the service. 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. 19 people were receiving support with personal care.

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

Staffing levels were low as some staff had left to return to jobs they had held prior to the pandemic. Remaining staff were working longer than their agreed hours in order to cover all visits. Some reported feeling ‘stretched’ but wanted to make sure people received their care as planned.

Some new staff had been recruited which would alleviate the situation. However, they needed to complete an induction and a period of shadowing before they were able to start working independently.

We identified an incident which should have resulted in a safeguarding referral being raised with the local authority and a notification. This had not been completed.

Audits and checks of the service had failed to identify foreseeable risks. Due to the low staff numbers the manager and co-ordinator were working in the community delivering care and spending less time in the office. This was beginning to have an effect on the record keeping and documentation.

Risk assessments were in place for risks such as falls and poor nutrition. These had not been developed for situations when people were distressed, and their behaviour could be unpredictable. We have made a recommendation about this in the report.

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.

People were complimentary about the staff team. They told us they were treated with dignity and staff were friendly and caring. They were confident their confidential information was respected.

Care plans were in place for everyone using the service. There were plans to invest in an electronic system which would support more effective monitoring and recording.

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 25/04/2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service.

We have identified breaches in relation to staffing levels, safeguarding and oversight of the service. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We have requested weekly reports to enable us to monitor staffing levels. 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 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.