Updated 3 July 2019
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.
Inspection team: One inspector and a specialist paediatric nurse conducted the inspection.
Service and service type: Appletree Support Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to children and young 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
This inspection was announced. We gave the provider 24 hours’ notice of the inspection site visit to ensure that the registered manager would be present, and to ensure people’s consent was gained for us to contact them for their feedback.
Inspection site visit activity started on 14 May 2019 and ended on 22 May 2019. We visited the office location on 14 May 2019 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.
What we did:
Before the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service, including previous inspection reports and notifications. Notifications are information about specific important events the service is legally required to send to us. We also considered information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once a year to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.
We spoke with four parents by telephone and one parent responded to our questions by email. We spoke with three members of staff in person, two by telephone and two staff members responded to our questions by email. We also spoke with the registered manager and the provider. We received feedback from two health and social care professionals. We reviewed records which included four young people’s/children’s care plans and daily records and four staff files. We reviewed the provider’s policies, procedures, and records relating to the management of the service such as staff training and supervision records, the complaints file and quality assurance systems.