Mirus-Wales

Contract Monitoring Report

• Name of Provider: Mirus-Wales, Unit 5, Cleeve House, Lambourne Crescent, Llanishen, CF14 5GP
• Date of Visit: Monday 24 August, 2023, 10.00 am – 12.30 pm (Office visit)
• Visiting Officers: Andrea Crahart, Contract Monitoring Officer, CCBC
• Present: Janine Darling:  Peter Davis, Area Manager / Stacey Crocker, Locality Manager

Background

The visit to the Mirus-Wales office base was conducted in order to view information held within the head office in relation to staff files, training, supervision/appraisal, quality assurance and complaints/compliments. 

Mirus-Wales provides specialist support to adults of all ages with disabilities. One service area includes ‘shared supported living’, where staff support a small number of people in properties who have their own tenancy agreements.  This provider carefully select staff to support people, and some of the areas that people are assisted with include, household management, finances, skills/independence and community participation.

The landlord and support provider are contractually separate.  Mirus-Wales are the support provider, and United Welsh Housing Association (UWHA) are the landlord, and therefore hold responsibility for all maintenance/repairs within the properties where people who are supported reside.

In terms of a ‘tenancy selection process’, Mirus-Wales will ‘match’ people by involving existing tenants (where appropriate), family members and appropriate professionals to try to ensure people are compatible with each other.  There are trial periods, whereby a person’s suitability is reviewed at regular intervals, and any compatibility issues are  dealt with in a pro-active way.

During 2023 to the present date one issue had been reported to the Caerphilly Social Services Safeguarding Team and this matter is subsequently being investigated by Mirus-Wales.

The contract monitoring officer was made aware of CIW’s (Care Inspectorate Wales) intention to undertake an inspection imminently, and previously CIW had visited in late 2020 and published an inspection report in January 2021 (relating to the Gwent region).  This report highlighted a small number of areas for improvement.

Dependent on the findings within the report the provider will be given corrective and developmental actions to be completed. Corrective actions are those, which must be completed (as governed by legislation etc), and developmental actions are those, which are deemed good practice to be completed.

Previous Recommendations

Safeguarding policy to be updated to bring terminology up to date. Timescale: Within 2 months. (RISCA Reg. 6).  Action met. 

Responsible Individual (RI)

The service’s Statement of Purpose was provided and had been updated this year. This provided a comprehensive overview of the service including e.g. the values and vision that Mirus-Wales holds, and how staff provide an outcomes focussed approach with the individuals they support.

The contingency plan, in the event that the RI and Area Manager are absent would be that an Area Manager from another region would cover in their absence, and the Operational Director would cover in place of the RI.

In order for the service to operate effectively mandatory policies and procedures are necessary (e.g. Safeguarding, Infection Control, Medication, Complaints etc.).  These were viewed, and it was apparent that they were largely up to date and the policies had been comprehensively written with reference to up to date terminology and relevant current legislation.

Staffing

Two staff files were viewed as part of the monitoring process.  These were examined and it was evident that relevant information had been collected as part of the recruitment process.  The staff files contained identification (birth certificate), an application form, written references, interview records etc. (which included a scoring mechanism and a number of questions, with challenging scenarios to judge the candidates suitability. It was noted that some of the information was missing from view on a job application that had been scanned onto the system.  

There was evidence that Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) information had been applied for and were current. The provider has systems in place to consider the suitability of a candidate to the role if they had disclosed they have convictions on their records.

Employee references showed an audit trail where these had needed to be chased, and illustrated that more than 2 written references were often requested to assist with appointing the right people for the role.  There was a robust personnel checklist to capture what information had been received and any further actions that were required.

During the year five staff have left their employment, however one returned to their support worker role.  Where there are gaps in staffing levels an agency is utilised, although this is not a usual arrangement.  The agency is able to provide the same pool of staff so it ensures good consistency, and the contract monitoring officer was informed that positive feedback has been received about the staff concerned.  There is currently one person on long term sick and one person who is currently absent from their workplace.

An on-call arrangement is in situ whereby senior staff are available for advice/support in the event of an emergency.  This requires senior staff to ensure they are available throughout the working day and manage their annual leave etc. accordingly.  There is a formal on-call arrangement from Monday to Sunday (5.00 p.m. to 9.00 a.m.) which is covered by a local manager.  The local manager is also able to seek support from other Mirus staff, if required from a neighbouring region.   

Complaints and compliments

People are supported to make complaints via regular House meetings, and views/opinions can be communicated via ‘Better Together’ events, and participation meetings held by Mirus-Wales.  ‘Better Together’ events are held twice yearly and used to obtain views of the service via people supported and their family members. 

The organisation has a robust complaints process which provides clear lines of communication and timescales to be adhered to.  The complaints policy had been reviewed in 2022 so was up to date.  Where complaints are received the Area Manager would be responsible for auditing these.

Mirus-Wales has a complaints tracker system which is used to capture any complaints and their outcomes.  The system was viewed and during the current year two complaints had been received, both are which are ongoing.

A compliment had been recorded which indicated that family members had complimented staff members on how well they are supporting their relative.

Quality of Care

The most recent Quality of Care Review had been undertaken in April 2023 and it was evident that quarterly visits to services had taken place at regular intervals leading up to April 2023.  It was evident that the RI had analysed the feedback received from stakeholders and that patterns/trends, outcomes of audits, what has worked well/not so well etc. had all been explored.

Mirus-Wales hold many events that are open to stakeholders to attend i.e. sector events, awards ceremonies to celebrate best practice, ‘Better Together’ meetings and a process that enables co-production.  Gwent also have a local representative at the 'our voice our choice' forum. In addition, people supported have the opportunity to become ‘quality checkers’ to ensure there is a continuous cycle of improvement that feeds into the organisation.

The Statement of Purpose makes reference to the organisation employing a small number of people in the region who are fluent in the Welsh language and a larger number of people who are supported and employed speak Welsh to some extent also.  There is also a Welsh learning programme for people who wish to learn the language and Welsh documents are accessible also if these are needed.

Induction and training

Training courses continue to be accessed via a range of providers i.e. the Caerphilly Community Nursing Learning Disabilities Team, private training providers, in-house training and E-Learning. 

Staff are supported to complete the All Wales Induction Framework (AWIF) which covers areas such as, standards of professional conduct and practice, safeguarding etc. and staff are also assisted to undertake a qualification in care to support their development and assists with registration as a carer with Social Care Wales (the workforce regulator).

Mirus-Wales provide a large range of training opportunities for their staff (both mandatory and non-mandatory) e.g. food safety, infection control, medication, epilepsy awareness, positive behaviour management, autism awareness etc.  It was evident from the training matrix that all staff had either completed the training courses on offer, or had been booked onto them to attend in the future.

It was evident that a large number of staff have registered as carers with Social Care Wales, which is a requirement within the care sector, and in addition to ‘registration’ some staff who do not already hold a relevant qualification in care (NVQ – National Vocational Qualification, or QCF - Qualifications and Credit Framework) are working towards a qualification.

Supervision and appraisal

It was evident that staff receive supervisions and appraisals to support them in their roles, with supervisions having been held in recent months and annual appraisals having been held also. The Statement of Purpose outlined that supervisions are held quarterly and that observations of performance take place whilst staff undertake their roles, and that during appraisals staff’s performance is reviewed, any development needs are identified, and training agreed going forward.

The supervision records viewed indicated that open questions were asked to invite a two way conversation with staff e.g. ‘How are you?’, ‘What is going well’?  etc.

Corrective / Developmental Actions

Corrective action

Policies/Procedures to be reviewed (Learning and Development policy, Positive Behaviour Support policy).  Timescale:  Within 6 months.

Information that is scanned onto the electronic system to be checked to ensure all details can easily be viewed.  Timescale:  Ongoing.

Developmental actions

No actions identified.

Conclusion

The quality assurance processes that are in place appear to be very robust, with feedback being received from people who use services, and other stakeholders and a comprehensive analysis of the organisation in terms of what has worked well and what can be developed further.  It is clear Mirus-Wales have the people they support at the heart of their values and ethos.

Mandatory policies/procedures were comprehensively written and mostly up to date.

People are supported by a stable staff team who are supervised and receive appropriate training to undertake their role.

Staff documentation was robust for the two staff files viewed.

The Contract Monitoring Officer would like to thank the RI, Regional Manager and Team Manager for their time and hospitality during the monitoring visit.

• Author: Andrea Crahart
• Designation: Contract Monitoring Officer
• Date: August 2023