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 carried out this inspection.

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 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 22 July 2019 and ended on 26 July 2019. We visited the office location on 23 July 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included notifications the provider is required by law to send us about events that happen within the service such as any serious injuries. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service as well as Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with eight people who used the service and six relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke to a director of the provider company and the registered manager who was also the nominated individual. Due to the open plan layout of the office, we were unable to speak to members of care staff confidentially. We therefore spoke to 2 members of care staff via the telephone. We also asked the registered manager if we could speak to a healthcare professional who was involved with the service, but contact details were not provided.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.