Updated 5 June 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:
Specialist Support Services for younger adults with disabilities South is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to adults under 65 living in their own homes. At the time 23 people using the service received the regulated activity 'personal care'. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.
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 visit because it is small, and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.
What we did:
We reviewed information we had received about the service, including information within the Provider Information Return (PIR). 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 looked at other information received from the provider, such as statutory notifications about incidents and events the provider must notify us about. We also sought feedback from other professionals who work with the service.
We took the information into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
During our inspection we spoke with four people using the service. We also had discussions with five members of staff including the registered manager, a team leader, a supervisor and two care staff. We checked the care records for seven people using the service, and examined other records relating to the management of the service. These included four staff recruitment files, staff training and supervision records, policies and procedures and quality monitoring information.