Updated 9 January 2020
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 Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
This inspection was carried out by two inspectors and an expert by experience. 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 houses and flats.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.
Notice of inspection
We gave a 48 hour notice period of the inspection as we wanted to speak to people prior to the site visit and needed to give people notice that we would be calling them. Inspection activity started on 25 November 2019 and ended on 2 December 2019. We visited the office location on 27 October 2019.
What we did before inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with twelve people who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the registered manager senior care workers and care workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included seven people's care records and medication records.
We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
We asked the registered manager to send us information relating to the training of staff following the visit to the office. The registered manager sent this information to us via email. We also looked at quality assurance records and other records relating to the management of the service.