Updated 23 July 2022
The inspection
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 video or phone calls to engage with people using the service and staff.
Inspection team
The inspection team consisted of two inspectors and an Expert 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 and specialist housing.
Registered Manager
This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.
At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was announced. We gave a short period notice of the inspection because we were completing a remote inspection and we also needed consent from people and relatives to allow us to contact them.
Inspection activity started on 28 June 2022 and ended on 30 June 2022.
What we did before inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from two local authority commissioning and safeguarding teams. We contacted Healthwatch to gain any feedback they might have. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.
We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). 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.
During the inspection
We contacted 13 people and relatives by telephone to gather their feedback. We spoke with the registered manager and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We also spoke with the area manager and contacted every member of care staff to gather their feedback. 11 care staff gave feedback.
We contacted the district nurse team, two social workers, a care coordinator and a member of the mental health team to gain feedback. We used their feedback to support our judgements.
We reviewed a range of records. This included care and medicine records for six people. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment, support, training and induction. We also reviewed policies and procedures and a range of quality assurance checks.
This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location’s office. We used technology such as video calls to enable us to engage with people using the service and staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation.