Updated 24 September 2022
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Inspection team
The inspection was undertaken by one inspector and on the second day an expert by experience spoke with relatives of people who used the service by telephone. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.
Registered Manager
This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was announced. We gave a short period of notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection and sought feedback from the local authority. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with one person who used the service and two relatives. Both owners of the company were also care workers at the service. One was also the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We spoke with the nominated individual, the registered manager and a care worker. We reviewed a range of records including three people’s care documentation, two staff files and a sample of people’s medication records. We also reviewed a range of records relating to the management of the service including audits and policies and procedures.