Updated 13 August 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 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.
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 24 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 12 July and ended on 25 July. We visited the location’s office on 13 July. We carried out telephone calls to staff on 19 July and we contacted families and relatives on 25 July.
What we did before the inspection
Before the inspection we reviewed the information, we had received about the service. This included CQC notifications. Notifications describe events that happen in the service that the provider is legally required to tell us about. We used information gathered as part of monitoring activity that took place on 17 May 2022 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements. We sought feedback from the Local Authority and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with four people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five care staff including the operations manager, the registered manager and three support workers. We received feedback from four health and social care professionals. We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.