Cera - Cumbria

Updated 27 April 2021

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

We received information of concern about infection control and prevention measures at this service. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection control and prevention measures the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 5 and 10 March 2021 and was announced.

Updated 27 April 2021

About the service

Mears Care Limited Carlisle is a domiciliary care agency providing care and support to people in their own home. This includes personal care, shopping, activities and appointments. The agency provide support to people with a range of care needs and includes older people, people living with dementia and people with learning or physical disabilities.

The organisation had recently moved location within Carlisle. At the time of our inspection Mears Care Limited Carlisle provided services to 101 people. 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

People were safe and protected from abuse because staff assessed and managed risk. Everyone we spoke with told us staff consistently met their care and support needs. They said staff usually arrived around the time agreed and stayed the correct amount of time. However, a small number of people said staff were often late and rushed them so they could leave quickly. People received their medicines as they needed and staff were trained and their competency checked. Staff were recruited safely and had a thorough induction.

People were helped to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff assessed people's capacity to make decisions and supported them with decision making. Staff had the training, skills and experience to provide good care. They supported people with meal preparation where needed. They liaised with health and social care professionals and sought advice quickly if people were ill or injured.

Staff provided care that met people’s different needs and preferences. People and where appropriate, their relatives were involved in planning their care and encouraged to make decisions. Almost all people said they were satisfied with their care. They told us staff were caring and respected their privacy and dignity.

Staff assessed people’s communication needs and were familiar with the ways people communicated. People said they knew how to complain. Where people had complained, these had been taken seriously and action taken to try to resolve these to the complainant’s satisfaction. Mears Care Limited Carlisle supported people at the end of life. Staff understood the importance of supporting people to make this as comfortable, pain free and peaceful as possible.

People said staff encouraged them to give their opinions about the service and to make decisions about their care. They told us staff usually listened to and acted on these. The registered manager worked in partnership with other services and organisations to assist them to follow good practice. The management team monitored and audited the service to check on the quality of care. They understood and acted on legal obligations, including conditions of CQC registration and those of other organisations.

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

Rating at last inspection:

The last rating for this service was good (published 19 May 2017). Since this rating was awarded the service has moved premises. We have used the previous rating to inform our planning and decisions about the rating at this inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.

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.