Updated 25 August 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 houses and flats.
The service did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that the provider is 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 it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider would be in the office to support the inspection.
What we did before the inspection
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 reviewed the notifications about important events that had taken place in the service which the provider is required to tell us by law. We contacted health and social care professionals to obtain feedback about their experience of the service. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with three members of staff including the two business owners, one of which was the nominated individual, and the care manager. We obtained feedback from three care workers. We obtained feedback from six relatives of people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We received feedback from the local authority commissioning team. We reviewed a range of records, including six peoples’ assessments and care records, and multiple medicine records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including staff rotas and service user guide were reviewed.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data, policies and procedures and user feedback.