Updated 10 May 2023
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 under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
This was a targeted inspection to check whether the provider was supporting people appropriately with their medicines, following concerns received about this.
Inspection team
Two inspectors visited the provider’s office. Two inspectors also made telephone calls to people, relatives, and staff to gain their feedback.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides nursing and personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
Registered Manager
This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.
At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service less than 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure the documentation we wanted to view would be available.
Inspection activity started on 23 February 2023 and ended on 3 March 2023. We visited the location’s office on 23 February 2023.
What we did before the inspection
We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We asked the local authority for their feedback and they shared information they had received recently. We also asked Healthwatch for feedback about the service. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. They did not have any information to share. We looked at information we had received about the service, such as notifications. Notifications are events the provider is required to tell us about. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We had contact with 2 people who used the service to gain their views about the care they received. We also spoke with 5 relatives to determine their thoughts. We reviewed the care and medicine records for 8 people.
We spoke with 10 staff, including care workers, senior care workers, the registered manager and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We also reviewed the provider’s medicine policy.