Last updated 18 May 2018
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 19 and 21 March 2018 and was announced. This was to ensure someone would be available to speak with and show us records. One adult social care inspector carried out the inspection.

Inspection site visit activity started on 19 March 2018 and ended on 21 March 2018. It included a visit to the provider’s office on both these dates to speak with the registered manager; and to review care records and policies and procedures. We also visited five people in their own homes.

During our inspection we spoke with five people who used the service. Some of the people who used the service had complex needs which limited their verbal communication. This meant they could not always tell us their views of the service so we carried out observations and spoke with three of their family members. In addition to the registered manager, we also spoke with the deputy manager, five members of staff and contacted two social care professionals. We looked at the care records of three people who used the service and observed how people were being cared for. We also looked at the personnel files for four members of staff.

Before we visited the service we checked the information we held about this location and the service provider, for example, inspection history, statutory notifications and complaints. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send to the Commission by law. We contacted professionals involved in caring for people who used the service, including commissioners and safeguarding staff.

We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.