‘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 homes in the community.

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 two days’ notice of the inspection site visit because we wanted to ensure there would be someone in the office.

We visited the office location on 3 February 2019 to see the registered manager, speak with staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. The following week we undertook phone calls to speak with people who used the service and their relatives. We also received feedback from external healthcare professionals through email.

What we did:

The registered manager sent us a provider information return (PIR). This is a document completed by the registered manager which contains information on how the service is developing and any planned improvements.

As part of the inspection we spoke with two people who received care from the service and two relatives of people who received care over the telephone. We spoke with the registered manager and six members of care staff. We looked at three people’s care records and looked at three staff files including training and recruitment. We reviewed the service’s accidents and incidents, audits and complaints policies.