Updated 5 March 2020
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
Two inspectors, an assistant inspector, a medicine team support officer and an Expert by Experience carried out this inspection. 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 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 staff worked with people in their own homes 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 15 January 2020 and ended on 12 February 2020. We visited the office location on 15 January 2020 and 12 February 2020.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we held about the service, including the notifications we had received from the provider. Notifications are changes, events or incidents the provider is legally obliged to send us within required timescales. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service.
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 eight people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff, including the registered manager, the nominated individual, support and office staff. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.
We reviewed a range of records. This included eight people’s care records and 10 medicine records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at records relating to people’s community links and outcomes.