Updated 13 April 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 team consisted of one adult social care inspector.
Service and service type:
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to adults with a range of support needs, including people living with dementia and people with a physical disability.
There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
Notice of inspection:
This inspection was announced, which meant the provider was given 48 hours’ notice of our inspection visit. This was because the location provides a small domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be available to meet with us.
On the 7 March 2019 we visited the office location. On the 8 March 2019 we spoke over the telephone with the person who used the service and two members of care staff.
What we did:
Before this inspection, we asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used this information to help with the planning for this inspection and to support our judgements.
Before this inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service, which included correspondence we had received and any notifications submitted to us by the service. Statutory notifications are information the registered provider is legally required to send us about significant events that happen within the service. For example, where a person who uses the service has a serious injury.
Before this inspection we contacted staff at Healthwatch Sheffield and they had no concerns recorded. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We also contacted members of Sheffield contracts and commissioning service and they did not have any concerns.
During the inspection we spoke with one person who used the service. We met with the registered manager, director and finance director. We spoke with two members of care staff. We spent time looking at written records, which included one person's care record, two staff personnel files and other records relating to the management of the service.