Updated 7 April 2023
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
This inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care and support to people living in 'extra care' housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is bought or rented and is the occupant's own home. People's care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate the premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people's personal care and support service.
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. Another manager also supported the inspection.
Notice of inspection
We gave short notice of the inspection for the manager to provide us with the documentation we needed to look at. Inspection activity started on 06 March 2023 and ended on 09 March 2023.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since it was registered. 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 information gathered as part of a monitoring activity that took place on 14 June 2022 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with 2 members of staff, a manager, and the registered manager. We also spoke with the relative of 1 person using the service. We reviewed a range of records. This included 2 people's care records and medication records. We looked at 2 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location's office. We used technology such as telephone and video calls to enable us to engage with staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation.