Updated 11 July 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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides live in support and personal care to people in their own houses and flats. The service can provide support to adults of all ages, people with dementia or mental health problems, and people with physical disabilities or sensory impairment.
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. This was because it was a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. We also wanted to be sure that the person using the service would be happy to speak with an inspector.
Inspection activity started on 18 June 2019 and ended on 19 June 2019. We visited the office location on 18 June 2019. We spoke with people, relatives and staff on 19 June 2019.
What we did before the inspection
Before the inspection, we reviewed information we had received about the service. We looked at the notifications we had received for this service. Notifications are information about
important events the service is legally obliged to send us within required timescales. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this 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.
We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with one person who used the service and one relative about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with three members of staff including the registered manager, training manager and care staff.
We reviewed a range of records including two people’s care records, medication records and one staff file. We also reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We spoke with two professionals who had regular contact with the service.