Mears Care - East Kilbride
Housing Support Service
Units 5/6 Glenburn Court
Glenburn Road
East Kilbride
Glasgow
G74 5BA
Telephone: 01355 238021
Type of inspection: Unannounced
Inspection completed on: 16 June 2017
Service provided by:
Mears Care (Scotland) Limited
Care service number:
CS2010250122
Service provider number:
SP2009010680
Inspection report
About the service
Mears Care was formerly known as Supporta Care and had been registered since 2008.
The service provides a Care at Home and Housing Support service to people living within their own homes in
Glasgow and South Lanarkshire. Operations are managed from an industrial unit in East Kilbride.
The aims and objectives of the service are to:
'Provide personal and domestic assistance to enable people to remain in their own homes for as long as they
wish and to provide such support, as the service user requests in accordance with the care plan'.
What people told us
We sent two hundred and fifty questionnaires to service users and their families and we receive seventy-nine
completed. Overall, people expressed high levels of satisfaction with the service. Some of the comments received
were:'Very happy with the service provided'.
'Overall, we have been happy with the service. Staff and managers are helpful and are quick to respond'.
'The staff are always polite and friendly to my mother. They take care to ensure they introduce themselves and
they are happy to talk. Very pleased with the overall care and support'.
'I can not praise all the staff highly enough, they do a great job, which gives me and my family peace of mind
knowing [relative] is being well looked after'.
'[service user] has built up a good rapport with the main carer'.
'My [relative] has been using the service for many years. The management and admin understand that ...
continuity is essential in his care package. I ... have complete trust in [support workers] abilities and genuine
professionalism in her care approach... management always respond positively to ensure that [service user] and
myself are happy'.
'My carers and care team are very supportive and my care package works well for me'.
'Staff generally arrive on time and perform the service willingly and efficiently'.
'I have a lot of faith in my carers they always make sure I'm fine I love having chats with them they make me
laugh. I look forward to them coming into my house'.
'The service is good and they take the time to care for me'.
'Don't know if I know the complaints procedure have never had to use it. At the moment carers do not have
enough time to carryout all care requirements. But this is in hand as a review has been requested'.
'Overall very happy with the care providers Mears. Although some carers still insist on doing things their own
way... coming and going at their own times, not respecting the services planned timetable times, not staying the
full support time'.
'Carers are amazing! Don't get paid enough for the job they do'.
'Some carers go above and beyond the service provided. In general very happy with Mears Care'.
'Very happy with support given from Mears and confident they have clients best interest first and foremost. Any
questions we have had, have been answered or dealt with immediately. Staff we have dealt with have been
courteous and kind. Thanks'.
'Sometimes some girls will help too much! By that I mean they will help your feet into slippers which you can
put on yourself. Girls can deserve a medal at times, doing whats needed and beyond at times'.
'Enjoy have same girl in every day so they know your little habits without you having to tell them. 'Really
appreciate someone coming in every day, much appreciated'.
'Some staff are more capable than others'.
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Inspection report
'Carers do not have enough time to carry out their duties and go on to next client. Half hour should mean half
hour spent with client, not 20 mins so that care staff have 10 mins to travel'.
'We are delighted with the excellent care my mother receives on a daily basis. The ladies/carers are very
professional and work extremely well as a team. Each on interacts with mum in a very caring way and I love to
see her face light up as they visit. I am also hugely appreciative that this is a settled team and therefore mum
knows her carers and is at ease.
'I object to the visit times getting changed without notice'.
'The only problem I have is when regular carer is off on holiday Mears are not very good at advising me of the
change of personnel. I think it's very important that someone with dementia has continuity of care'.
Self assessment
The Care Inspectorate did not request a self-assessment for this inspection year.
From this inspection we graded this service as:
Quality of care and support
Quality of staffing
Quality of management and leadership
4 - Good
5 - Very Good
not assessed
What the service does well
The service offers personal care support and housing support to service users in the South Lanarkshire and
Glasgow area, enabling people to remain as independent within their own homes. Service users receive support
with a range of personal care tasks, shopping, domestic duties and support to access local amenities/interests.
The service develops personal plans in collaboration with service users, relatives and other parties. This personal
plan reflects the needs and preferences of service users with a focus on providing a person-centred and outcome
focussed care package. We were encouraged to see improvements have been made in the frequency of care
reviews particularly before the six month deadline and post discharge from hospital. The service has good links
with other social care and health resources and they will refer on as appropriate and work in partnership with
these other agencies, to improve the health and wellbeing outcomes for the individuals involved. We encouraged
the service to improve the recording of guidance for care staff when advice has been given by health
professionals.
At the last inspection we highlighted the urgent need for the service to review its medication policy and we were
relieved to observe that this has been reviewed and implemented and that all staff have received training. There
are areas of the policy which may need amended and the service is collaborating with the Care Inspectorate and
good practice guidelines.
The service has developed a number of methods to improve communication links with service users and their
families. This was done through surveys, courtesy calls, review meetings and by spot checks to customer's
homes. Service user feedback spoke very highly of this service and the staff who work in it and spoke of the
reliability and consistency of staff enabling trusting relationships to have been formed. We observed staff
practice that was respectful, warm and positive.
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Inspection report
What the service could do better
Communication must be improved between office staff and support workers to ensure that errors are minimised,
particularly when relaying changes in schedules. We recognise that the service is addressing these issues
through a variety of forms however, the issue has not been resolved. Any missed visits or errors result in poor
outcomes for service users.
The service should develop a thorough system for monitoring staff registrations with the Scottish Social Services
Council including expiry dates and conditions of registration.
Improvements should be made to ensure that staff are afforded the full number of supervisions as outlined in
the service's supervision policy. Management have given assurances that this will be rectified. We would in
general encourage the service to look at how it facilitates for care workers to develop in their understanding of
what is expected by 'reflective practice'.
We would recommend that the staff are trained in-line with the Scottish Dementia National Strategy training
resource - Promoting Excellence. The service should consider how it develops carer knowledge to the 'skilled'
level, aspiring to continue with 'enhanced' and 'expert' levels would be considered excellent training in dementia
care.
Requirements
Number of requirements: 0
Recommendations
Number of recommendations: 0
Complaints
There have been no complaints upheld since the last inspection. Details of any older upheld complaints are
published at www.careinspectorate.com.
Inspection and grading history
Date
Type
Gradings
19 May 2016
Unannounced
Care and support
Environment
Staffing
Management and leadership
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4 - Good
Not assessed
4 - Good
4 - Good
Inspection report
Date
Type
Gradings
14 Jul 2015
Unannounced
Care and support
Environment
Staffing
Management and leadership
4 - Good
Not assessed
4 - Good
4 - Good
29 Jul 2014
Unannounced
Care and support
Environment
Staffing
Management and leadership
3 - Adequate
Not assessed
3 - Adequate
3 - Adequate
5 Dec 2013
Unannounced
Care and support
Environment
Staffing
Management and leadership
3 - Adequate
Not assessed
3 - Adequate
3 - Adequate
31 Oct 2012
Unannounced
Care and support
Environment
Staffing
Management and leadership
4 - Good
Not assessed
4 - Good
4 - Good
9 Feb 2012
Unannounced
Care and support
Environment
Staffing
Management and leadership
4 - Good
Not assessed
4 - Good
4 - Good
15 Dec 2010
Announced
Care and support
Environment
Staffing
Management and leadership
4 - Good
Not assessed
4 - Good
Not assessed
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Inspection report
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
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Dundee
DD1 4NY
[email protected]
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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.
Inspection report for Mears Care - East Kilbride
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