Updated 7 October 2021
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
The inspection was carried out 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 homes.
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 the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure the manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 24 August 2021 when we visited the office location and we then contacted people using the service and their relatives by telephone to gather their views on 9 September 2021.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed the information we held about the service including any feedback from the local authority and notifications of significant events the provider had sent to us. 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 the registered manager and three staff members. We reviewed the care records for four people using the service and five staff files in relation to recruitment, training and supervision. We also looked at a range of records relating to the management of the service.
After the inspection
We contacted three people using the service and five relatives to gather their views. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate the evidence found.