McSence Help in Home Care at Home Service Support Service McSence Business Park 32 Sycamore Road Mayfield Dalkeith EH22 5TA Telephone: 0131 454 1500 Type of inspection: Unannounced Inspection completed on: 11 May 2017 Service provided by: McSence Communication Ltd a company limited by guarantee Service provider number: SP2013012191 Care service number: CS2013321311
About the service McSence Help in Home (Care at Home Service) was registered with the Care Inspectorate on 24 June 2014 to provide service to older people. A variation to the registration of the service was completed in January 2017 to allow the service to support older people and adults with physical and/or cognitive care and support needs living in their own homes and in the community. The McSence Group is an award winning Social Enterprise comprising of five separate companies, providing a wide range of professional services to businesses and individuals including Managed Workspace, Property Maintenance and Cleaning Services, Conference Centre Facilities, Training Services and Home Help services. McSence is owned by the Community in which it is based and is governed by an unpaid board of volunteer Directors. McSence head office is in Midlothian and a small satellite office is in East Lothian which is open one day each week. This allows coordinators and or managers to meet with staff and service users, undertake supervision, appraisal and quality assurance checks. At the time of inspection the staff team provided a service to 72 service users across East and Midlothian. The aims of the care at home service include "to deliver the optimum quality of care to our clients, to enable them to live a full and satisfying life in the comfort of their own homes. We believe in promoting the dignity, privacy, choice, safety, self-esteem and independence of all our clients regardless of support needs and to provide a range of personalised home care services, which allow the client to choose what is most appropriate for their needs." What people told us We spoke with eleven service users, two relatives/carers and received 20 pre inspection questionnaires. All we met and who completed questionnaires told us that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the quality of the care and the overall service provided from McSence. People were also complimentary about staff working in the service including office based staff, coordinators and carers some of whom were singled out for praise. We shared this at feedback on the outcomes of inspection in order that this could be communicated to staff. Accounts were given about how staff responded and supported individuals and some of the comments were as follows: "I have no complaints about what the girls do, they are always respectful, helpful and gentle." "Service at present okay, under the stressful circumstances all attention and care given. Very much appreciated." "It is good that there is generally a regular team (of carers) as this provides much needed confidence and continuity. Regular staff give the impression that they have sufficient time to spend in caring duties. The family and my mother are very happy and impressed with the service. They do a very good job." "My hours of care have been carefully planned and are satisfactory. Staff are kind and considerate, they are patient and non-judgemental. They help me with all my needs and keep me safe." "Great service when it works as planned, great staff who care about the work, always appreciated that the page 2 of 6
service is available to care for those who need help." "Having different people come in to care for me makes my day more interesting." "The service and people involved are perfect in every way." One service user commented that more time was needed at mealtimes. However, they did not want to be contacted therefore we could not check if we could pass on the details to the manager to follow up. One service user wanted more time for personal hygiene needs and this had since been provided. One service user told us about a member of staff who did not always arrive on time and when we checked with the deputy manager this was known and was being addressed. Self assessment We did not request that the self assessment was updated prior to this inspection. We took information from the previous self assessment completed in 2016. From this inspection we graded this service as: Quality of care and support Quality of staffing Quality of management and leadership 5 - Very Good 5 - Very Good 5 - Very Good What the service does well McSence considered each service user to be the "expert in their care needs" and care plan files were person centred and informed staff practice taking account of individual wishes. How the person wished to be supported and what was working well or what could be improved was recorded. This encouraged service user involvement in the development of their care plan. Regular care plan reviews also helped the service to check that they were continuing to meet service user needs or to assess if any changes were needed. This helped to support positive outcomes for service users. Planning staff care teams and staff skills around each service users' needs helped to promote consistency of staffing and their practice. This was reported by service users as being reassuring and important to them. Planning the schedule of staff visits to service users was well managed, did not allow staff to be double booked and helped to predict scheduling of visits. This meant that coordinators could quickly identify if and when they could provide longer visits to existing service users or a service to new applicants. There were very good systems in place to ensure safe recruitment practices were followed in accordance with best practice guidance. This meant that appropriate checks took place before staff commenced work which contributed to safeguarding service users. Induction to the service provided staff information on policies and procedures, expectation in work and training to assist them to meet service users' needs. Shadowing experienced staff also helped new staff to gain skills and page 3 of 6
confidence in their duties. Systems were in place to ensure all staff had undertaken the necessary training and to plan refresher training. Professional and personal development was encouraged to assist staff in SVQ training and future registration with SSSC. Supervision and appraisals had also recently been introduced which will also assist the service to promote a skilled and professional staff team. Regular monitoring systems were used well to assess the quality of care and included regular spot checks, competency assessment and reviews of care. These helped to ensure staff were professional, skilled and competent in the work they were employed to carry out. The checks also helped the manager to obtain feedback about the overall quality of the service at the same visit. What the service could do better The systems of checks and audits used to monitor aspects of the service could be further developed into a more comprehensive quality assurance framework. The consistent use of action plans would show where any deficits had been identified, remedial measures necessary and when completed. Systems to ensure that staff visit service users in accordance with the planning schedule should continue to be monitored to reduce the likelihood of missed visits. Information in seven (of 30 sent) pre inspection questionnaires returned by staff indicated. Two did not receive supervision. One did not have the opportunity to meet up with other staff. One was not asked their opinion on how the service could improve. Supervision and appraisals had been planned but for some staff these were still to take place. We also saw that staff meetings had been held and not all members of the staff groups had attended. These meetings give staff the opportunity to share good practice, discuss any training needs and contribute to the consultations about the future development of the service. The manager should continue to develop staff supervision and appraisal to ensure that staff are supported in their work. In addition, the Personal and Professional Development plans for staff should be progressed as a record of continued learning. This will be helpful to support staff undertaking SVQ training and their future registration with SSSC. However, staff also have a responsibility to contribute to their own learning and development which may include attendance at team meetings. The plans to review and update all care plans to McSence branded paperwork should continue as a priority. This will help to reduce any confusion for service users about the service provider. Requirements Number of requirements: 0 page 4 of 6
Recommendations Number of recommendations: 0 Complaints Please see Care Inspectorate website (www.careinspectorate.com) for details of complaints about the service which have been upheld. Inspection and grading history Date Type Gradings 17 Aug 2016 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment Not assessed Staffing 5 - Very good Management and leadership 5 - Very good 23 Apr 2015 Unannounced Care and support 3 - Adequate Environment Not assessed Staffing 3 - Adequate Management and leadership 3 - Adequate page 5 of 6
To find out more This inspection report is published by the Care Inspectorate. You can download this report and others from our website. Care services in Scotland cannot operate unless they are registered with the Care Inspectorate. We inspect, award grades and help services to improve. We also investigate complaints about care services and can take action when things aren't good enough. Please get in touch with us if you would like more information or have any concerns about a care service. You can also read more about our work online at www.careinspectorate.com Contact us Care Inspectorate Compass House 11 Riverside Drive Dundee DD1 4NY enquiries@careinspectorate.com 0345 600 9527 Find us on Facebook Twitter: @careinspect Other languages and formats This report is available in other languages and formats on request. Tha am foillseachadh seo ri fhaighinn ann an cruthannan is cànain eile ma nithear iarrtas. page 6 of 6