Matrixcare

Updated 21 July 2018

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, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection site visit activity started on and ended on 9 July 2018. The inspection was completed by one inspector. As part of the inspection, we reviewed the information we held about the home and looked at the notifications they had sent us. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. The inspection considered information about people's care that was shared from the local authority who are responsible for commissioning some people's care. We also contacted Healthwatch to see if they had any information to share with us. [Healthwatch is a consumer champion representing people using health and social care services].

We requested and reviewed a Provider Information Return (PIR) for this inspection. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed the information we held about the service which included notifications about important events which the service is required to send us by law.

During the inspection, we spoke with two people who lived at the home and one family member. We spoke with three facilitators, [the provider refers to its support staff as facilitators], the registered manager and the Head of Service for Wales and West. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We looked at two records about people’s care, two medicine records, medicine audits, care plan audits, provider improvement plans, falls and incidents reports, training records and checks completed by the provider.

Updated 21 July 2018

This inspection took place on 9 July 2018 and was unannounced. Matrixcare, 369 Worcester Road is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. is registered to provide accommodation for personal care for a maximum of four people with learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of our inspection two people were living at the home.

Accommodation was provided in a single house. There was also a large room for activities and a quiet room. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post. 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.

The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.” Registering the Right Support CQC policy

People received care and from facilitators who knew how to keep them safe. Facilitators knew what to do to protect a person from the risk of harm and how to report any concerns. People got the assistance they asked for and facilitators ensured they were available to help them when needed.

Facilitators had time to support people when required and ensured that people’s needs were met in a timely way.

Facilitators knew the importance of infection control to keep people safe and well.

Facilitators gave people their medicines as prescribed and recorded when people had received them.

People’s care was provided by facilitators that had been trained to understand their needs and were supported in their role. People’s decisions about their care and treatment had been recorded and facilitators showed they listened and respected to people’s to agree or refuse care.

The registered manager had worked in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). The assessments of people’s capacity to consent and records of decisions had been reviewed. Facilitators knew who and why a person was being legally deprived of their liberty and understand the reasons for the restrictions in place.

People enjoyed the food and had choices regarding their meals. Support was provided where needed and alternative diets had been prepared to meet people’s nutritional needs. People were supported to access health and social care professionals with regular appointments when needed and were supported by facilitators to attend these appointments.

People were comfortable around the facilitators and registered manager that supported them. People were happy to chat and relate with them.

Facilitators knew people’s individual care needs and respected people’s dignity and had been supported to maintain relationships with their families [where appropriate].

People got to enjoy the things they liked to do and chose how they spent their days in their home, the garden or out on planned trips. People had the opportunity to raise comments or concerns and these were addressed. The registered manager was looking at ways to develop record people’s feedback in the form of questionnaires.

There were processes in place for handling and resolving complaints and guidance was available in alternative formats. Facilitators were also encouraged to raise concerns on behalf of people at the home and they had done so where necessary.

The registered manager was available, approachable and known by people and relatives. Facilitators also felt confident to raise any concerns of behalf of people. The provider ensured regular checks were completed to monitor the quality of the care delivered.