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 planned this inspection 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 two inspectors and two experts by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

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 theprovider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We carried out the inspection visit on 26 May 2021. We gave a short period notice of the inspection as we were mindful of the impact and added pressures of Covid-19 pandemic on the service. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances and requirements arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

What we did

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection due to the timing of the 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.

During our inspection we went to the service's office and spoke with the registered manager, the regional manager and five care staff. We looked at four care records and three staff records; we also looked at various documents relating to the management of the service. We discussed quality assurance with the registered manager and regional manager and the actions they had taken since the last inspection to improve quality, and planned changes. We also received feedback from the local authority commissioning team. After the inspection visit, we spoke to five relatives and 18 people who used the service.