Date of assessment 27 January to 3 February 2026. Mobile Care Services Limited is a domiciliary care service that provides care to people in their own homes. It supports a diverse group of individuals, including older adults, younger adults, people living with dementia, sensory impairments, physical disabilities and health conditions and people with learning disabilities or autism. The service is also registered to provide care and support to children aged 4 – 18 years, but at the time of our inspection everyone in receipt of a service was aged over 18 years. At the time of this assessment, the service was supporting 234 people, of whom 214 had a regulated activity. Not everyone using the service receives a regulated activity. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects services where a regulated activity is provided. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do; we also consider any wider social care provided. We assessed the service against the Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture guidance to determine whether the provider ensured that people with a learning disability and autistic people were treated with respect, equality, dignity, and given choices, independence, and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. We found these principles were not always upheld, and further work was needed to improve. For example, to ensure information was consistently met the accessible information standard; in a format the person could understand. Some systems and processes for managing people’s care did not offer staff sufficient guidance. Risk management was not always robust. Where people had identified risks, staff did not consistently have the information they needed or have tasks listed to prompt them to ensure important checks were completed. Medicines were not consistently given in a safe way. Some important records were not in place for people, such as body maps related to skin damage. Staff were recruited safely and training was given, but not all staff had received training updates when needed or had competency assessments to ensure they had the necessary skills for their role. Mobile Care Services Limited had been purchased by a new provider during early 2025 and had subsequently gone through a period of change. A lot of staff felt this had impacted negatively on morale and some had not felt supported. The service required improvement with their monitoring and governance to ensure any gaps in safe care were addressed promptly. Improvements were also needed in staff support, training and competency checks to ensure people received a consistent person-centred quality and safe service. We found the provider was in breach of 1 legal regulation in relation to good governance. We have asked the provider for an action plan telling us when needed improvements will be made, with a timescale.
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Mobile Care Services Limited received a Good rating across all five key questions at its September 2015 announced inspection, demonstrating safe, person-centred homecare for 432 people with strong staff relationships and responsive management. Minor gaps were identified in pressure area care planning, medicine administration record detail and Mental Capacity Act awareness, all of which the director addressed promptly during the inspection.
Concerns (4)
moderateCare planning: “three of the five care records looked at were for people at risk of skin breakdown...There was no risk assessment or information in care plans about pressure area management.”
moderateRecord keeping: “the record did not detail what medicine and dosage had been given.”
minorMedication management: “We looked at their care plan and saw that it did not give staff any detail about the level of support the person required.”
minorConsent / capacity: “Care workers completed MCA as part of their dementia awareness training, and associated 'capacity' with dementia...Care workers would benefit from MCA training.”
Strengths
· People felt safe with care workers and no missed visits were reported; electronic call monitoring ensured timely alerts for late arrivals.
· Consistent care worker allocation fostered long-term positive relationships; 97% of people said they were completely happy with the service.
· Staff received comprehensive induction and regular refresher training including moving and handling, safeguarding, medication and infection control.
· The service was flexible and responsive to people's individual preferences and changing needs, including rural adverse-weather contingency planning.
· Effective quality assurance processes including twice-yearly surveys, complaint logging and trend analysis were in place.
Mobile Care Services Limited achieved an overall Good rating across all five key questions at this March 2020 inspection, maintaining Safe, Effective, Caring and Responsive ratings from 2017 and improving Well-Led from Requires Improvement to Good. Minor areas for improvement included greater detail in risk management plans and record-keeping for nutritional monitoring, both committed for completion by April 2020.
Concerns (3)
minorCare planning: “The provider had recognised, prior to our inspection visit, that their risk management plans required more detail...needed more detailed information to refer to.”
minorRecord keeping: “clearer direction was needed for staff to refer to, such as whether the records should state the amount of fluid or just the type of drink offered.”
minorStaff training: “Some staff told us they had not completed first aid training but would always follow the guidance given by healthcare professionals.”
Strengths
· No missed care calls; call monitoring system constantly attended to by office or on-call staff.
· Consistent staffing ensured staff knew people well and could manage individual risks effectively.
· Staff demonstrated caring, empathetic approach; people and relatives described staff as kind and like close friends.
· Safe recruitment processes in place with required checks documented.
· Well-led improvement: well-led rating improved from Requires Improvement to Good since last inspection.
Quality-Statement breakdown (20)
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and management; Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
safe: Staffing and recruitmentGood
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
effective: Assessing people's needs and choices; delivering care in line with standards, guidance and the lawGood
effective: Staff support: induction, training, skills and experienceGood
effective: Supporting people to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced diet
Mobile Care Services Limited was rated Good overall following its August 2017 inspection, with four of five key questions rated Good; however, Well-Led was rated Requires Improvement due to failure to notify CQC of police-involved and safeguarding incidents, insufficient detail in risk assessments, and gaps in centralised complaints monitoring.
Concerns (5)
criticalGovernance: “The manager had not always notified CQC of incidents that occurred at the service which involved the police and safeguarding concerns.”
moderateRecord keeping: “auditing procedures had not highlighted the need for risk assessments to be more detailed to ensure people's care was delivered consistently by staff.”
moderateCare planning: “one person had an allergy identified in their care records to an everyday item. However, there was no instruction for staff on how they could minimise the risks of an allergic reaction.”
minorMissed or late visits: “I need a call at half nine in the morning, but in the last two or three months they're getting later and later.”
minorComplaints handling: “complaints were not always recorded in a centralised location, to monitor trends and patterns. In addition, negative feedback was not centrally recorded for analysis.”
Strengths
· 100% of survey respondents said they felt safe with staff, citing consistent and familiar care workers.
· Robust recruitment and pre-employment checks were in place before staff commenced work.
· Medicines were administered safely with competency checks and 'as required' instructions in place.
· Staff received tailored induction and role-specific training, including specialist areas such as stoma and catheter care.
· 100% of survey respondents rated the service as one they would recommend to others.
Good
effective: Supporting people to live healthier lives, access healthcare services and supportGood
effective: Ensuring consent to care and treatment in line with law and guidance (MCA)Good
caring: Ensuring people are well treated and supported, equality and diversityGood
caring: Respecting and promoting people's privacy, dignity and independenceGood
caring: Supporting people to express their views and be involved in making decisions about their careGood
responsive: Planning personalised care to ensure people have choice and control and to meet their needs and preferencesGood
responsive: Meeting people's communication needsGood
responsive: Improving care quality in response to complaints or concernsGood
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles, quality performance, risks and regulatory requirementsGood
well-led: Engaging and involving people using the service, the public and staffGood
well-led: Working in partnership with othersGood
well-led: Continuous learning and improving careGood