Updated 19 April 2023
We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.
Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and phone calls to engage with people using the service and staff.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by one inspector. Two Experts by Experience made calls to people using the service or their relatives. 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.
Registered Manager
This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
This was a remote inspection we gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be available to support the inspection. The inspection activity started on 03 February 2023 and ended on 7 March 2023.
What we did before the inspection
Before the inspection we reviewed the information we had received about the service. We asked for feedback from the local authority who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke to the registered manager, three staff members, seven people who used the service and twelve relatives. We reviewed a range of records including eight people’s care and risk management records. We reviewed five staff recruitment records. We also reviewed records used in managing the service for example, policies and procedures, monitoring records and audits.