Updated 14 July 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 completed by one inspector 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, flats and specialist housing.
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
We gave the service 48 hours’ 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.
Inspection activity started on 26 May 2022 and ended on 15 June 2022. We visited the location’s office on 15 June 2022.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we held about the service and the provider, such as notifications. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
We telephoned one person who used the service and seven family members of people using the service to seek their feedback about their experience of the service.
During the inspection
We spoke with the registered manager, who is also the nominated individual and the provider. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.
We reviewed a range of records. These included three people's care records and three staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management and oversight of the service, including staff training, auditing and monitoring and the providers policies and procedures were also reviewed.
After the inspection
We sought feedback from care staff. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.