Updated 4 October 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 Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
This inspection was carried out by one inspector.
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
We gave the service two days’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. We also gave time for the registered manager to send us inspection information, so we did not have to spend an extended amount of time in the office of the service.
Inspection activity started on 2 September 2022 and ended on 5 September 2022. We visited the office location on 5 September 2022.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service and we sought feedback from the local authority. The provider sent us a 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 took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with two people who used the service and one relative about the experience of the care provided by the service. We spoke with two care staff members, the registered manager and the care coordinator. We reviewed a range of records. This included two care records. We looked at two staff recruitment files of staff currently employed by the service. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.
We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found, which was sent to us. This included amendments to procedures.