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

This inspection was carried out by two inspectors. One inspector visited the office and the second inspector completed inspection activity by e-mail and phone.

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 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 16 December 2020 and ended on 9 February 2021. We visited the office location on 18 December 2020. Following the on-site inspection, we completed the inspection via phone and e-mail. On 16 December 2020 telephone calls were made to staff and relatives to gain their feedback.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection and formal notifications that the service had sent to the CQC. Notifications are information that registered persons are required to tell us about by law that may affect people’s health and wellbeing. 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.

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 of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

During the office visit, we spoke with the registered manager. We reviewed three staff recruitment records , three people’s care plans and risk assessments and one person’s medicines records.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at policies and procedures, quality assurance information and training information. Prior to the on-site visit we spoke with four relatives and three care staff. We were unable to speak to people who used the service, as they were unable to talk on the phone due to their complex needs.