Updated 27 March 2019
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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team:
The inspection was carried out by two inspectors.
Service and service type:
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. It provides a service to older adults.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). 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 visit because it is small and we needed to make sure that the registered manager would be in. We visited the office location on 20 February 2019 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. On that day we also visited people in their home. We made telephone calls to people and relatives on 22 February 2019.
What we did:
Before inspection: We reviewed information we held about the service. We viewed information the provider is required to send us at least annually that provides some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We sought feedback from the local authority who monitor the care and support people receive. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During inspection:
• We spoke with the registered manager, a member of the office staff, and two care workers.
• We visited two people in their home.
• We reviewed a range of records about people's care and how the service was managed. This included two people's care records. We also looked at associated documents including risk assessments and medicine records.
• We looked at three recruitment files; including checks carried out for new staff employed at the service.
• We spoke with a relative of a person being supported by the service.
After inspection:
• The registered manager provided us with a sample of the provider’s policies and procedures and records of meetings and staff training records.